Thanks, Jim, for those thoughtful comments.  They spur me to further comment
(though I had wished to remain silent)... a few brief comments...

1.  This Forum is so valuable to many of us working the fields.  I recall my
years relying on the good souls of members answering my scores of questions,
often within 24 hours -- and I acknowledge the LIST in my own works.  Like
Jim, I feel a very strong loyalty and personal connection to this LIST and
HUNDREDS of its veteran members.

2.  I have seen several LISTS virtually wrecked by the sort of misdemeanors
that have been going on here for a pretty long time.  Yes, LISTS can grow
cold, for various reasons.  I can name many, many top scholars who no longer
participate here--for reasons that I can only guess at, but which may have
something to do with these changes in civility.  I guarantee that many
people responded to Jocelyn off-LIST (who wants to be subjected to public
bashing for being "politically correct"??).  In short, the LIST has changed
dramatically over the years, mostly in negative ways.  I do not consider it
exaggeration when some suggest it is on the brink of oblivion, simply
because I have witnessed the deaths of several other LISTS that at one tiime
were just as vibrant and important to me.

3.  I and all the other subscribers ARE the LIST, and I do not think it is
out of the question to refuse entry.  Many LISTS have gone underground and
now require membership and screening for these very reasons.  Scholars want
a safe place to post and respond without immediate attack, and wish to read
postings of predictable character and content.  Clubs/ organizations can and
do regulate membership--I have been involved with discussions regarding how
to deal with these issues on other LISTS, and this is in fact an emerging
issue in our fields of professionalization.  (ps -- one way I have done this
here is to delete unread the postings of certain people).

4.  I admit to reading, for example, sports fans LISTS and discussion
boards, and believe me, the levels of ad hominem and idiocy on those sites
are way way beyond what we see on here.  (Somehow the web invites and
condones very weird discourse--I am still puzzled about why but I personally
believe much of it is generational.  If you teach young people, you probably
know what I mean due to the many e-mails from students that can strike us
older folks as glib, presumptuous, or even preposterous!)

That in no way is an endorsement of some of the stuff on here; it is a
cautionary tale of how internet chatter has devolved in about a decade to
very low levels.

Is that happening here on the Twain LIST?  And can/should the loyal
membership intervene and take actions against it?

Yes, and Yes!

In short, nobody has an "unalienable" right to posting on this board, in my
view.  Or, whatever right one does have initially can (and SHOULD) be
revoked after multiple offenses.  I would favor that view, anyway.




Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Associate Professor
Dept. of English, Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO  63108
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
<www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/ENG/faculty/hbush.html>