As far as possible, there is no editorial policy, other than to ban insulting, degrading or just plain mean comments. Obscenity will be judged on a case by case basis, taking into consideration originality and redeeming social value.
The essence of the Blog ethos, is such exists, is tolerance and diversity of opinion. It is hoped that the postings of the community in question will reflect these values. It is clear that many of the individuals on the email list which gave rise to this effort feel strongly about the political issues of the day, in particular the foreign policy of the federal government.
My own feelings on the war are idiosyncratically ambivalent. At times I find myself in agreement with Usama bin Laden, especially in his premise that the current untenable situation has its origin in that infamous smoke-filled room where, at the end of the first world war, a decadent cabal of power besotted Brits and Frenchmen (with scurrilous OSS sycophants whispering in their ears) sat down with a map of the middle east and, literally drawing lines in the sand, created the nations we know today as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the UAE, Jordan and Iran from the smoldering ruins of the Ottoman Empire, which had had the temerity and historic bad luck to throw in with the Kaiser.
At other times, moved by personal connections to people in the State of Israel, an abiding belief in the power of an open society with respect for the five freedoms which has stubbornly resisted the cynicism of my years, and a profound revulsion at the everyday indignities and dangers confronting women, gays and political and religious non-conformists in most of these countries, I find that Mr. Wolfowitz makes sense. It is all well and good to say that change must come from within, but history shows that nation-states can be hijacked by small groups of evil men, whose regimes may eventually fall through the rottenness of their foundations but which in the meantime can take a toll of millions of lives and untold human suffering.
My only point is my hope that this site does not become identified with any movement, position, policy or point of view, other than the wacky lack of respect for authority which endears us all to each other.