Carolyn - yes, I was very hesitant to weigh in. At least from a count of the posters in this thread and in KimmyDawn's about creating a "home" (I just went back and re-read it), I am definitely in the minority - a position I don't often find myself in here.

I have been telling myself not to say anything more; but I figure if Vicky can stand up to the crowd and say the things she believes while flaunting popularity, then I can too!

I can figure out why the majority of those who have posted in these two threads are adverse to being "over moderated" because of past actions in another place. That experience was draconian enough to make anyone wary.

But the situation here is much different; the administrative response to objections when speech is deleted or locked has been to try to work with us to figure out a way so that speech can be heard. Far from trying to "fix" our forum, which I think most of us don't think is broken (and I don't think NT believe it is broken either), KimmyDawn's offer to make our "home" more comfortable was a way to expand conversation so that hot topics would have a place to play out. Wouldn't that be better than a swift and unexplained lock appearing? She should get mucho credit to even want to engage us in a conversation in the first place. But instead she got kicked.

And as soon as Harley complained, Doc John was right there - being very patient to listen to criticism, keep his humor, and do the right thing.

The thing that really baffles me is the tone of the posts, which in general is territorial, intolerant and scolding. The claim is "leave us alone - we can take care of our own". But the people who post here and read here are not "our own." And we are only "here" due to the good graces of Doc John and psych central; they would be irresponsible to leave us to our own.

This crowd is boisterious, wise, funny, compassionate, knowledgeable, and sick in the head (literally). And it is usually pretty good, at the end of a controversial discussion, at being able to agree about disagreeing. But having PD doesn't give us the right to be rude, ungrateful, and exclusive.

Carolyn was right - it comes down to responsibility. Especially the leaders and top posters. In-your-face challenges to the administration are not cool; there are better ways to communicate. The folks in charge at NT are to be commended for their ability to turn the other cheek and do the right thing while being slapped for trying to be helpful.