Wirt,
  I think there is merit in what you say.  I would hope that such a restriction
would not be *too* strict, though.  This list provided me with information
about the the folks at Adager at a time I really needed it.  The ad hominem
comments were very important to me at that point and I was very grateful for
them.
  The problem here is not so much in the comments themselves but that what
would normally be said privately between two or three people is here broadcast
worldwide.  In a small group, we would each express our feelings and go away
having brought a little more happiness into the world through shared
admiration.  Here, those who may not agree or care yet have to deal somehow
with the messages.  Moreover, they go to a much larger group of supporters.
Perhaps not a "critical mass" if you are thinking in nuclear terms, but
certainly a large enough group to keep the reaction going long beyond when it
would have died otherwise.
  C.S. Lewis, in _The_Four_Loves_ speaks of friendship as two people sharing
with each other their admiration of something or someone.  It is a very
enjoyable thing to find others who admire what we admire and difficult to stay
aware of how such comments may affect the admired or others listening in.  I,
for one, shall endeavor to keep that awareness and so avoid such things in
this forum.  As small comfort for you, sir, though, let me quote good professor
Einstein:

The world needs heroes and it's better they be harmless men like me than
villains like Hitler.
                                        -- Einstein, Albert (1879-1955)

Ted "trying to be a quieter fan :-)" Ashton
--
Ted Ashton ([log in to unmask]), Info Serv, Southern Adventist University
          ==========================================================
Mathematics is not only real, but it is the only reality. That is that
entire universe is made of matter, obviously. And matter is made of
particles. It's made of electrons and neutrons and protons. So the entire
universe is made out of particles. Now what are the particles made out of?
They're not made out of anything. The only thing you can say about the
reality of an electron is to cite its mathematical properties. So there's a
sense in which matter has completely dissolved and what is left is just a
mathematical structure.
                                           -- Gardner, Martin