...because as a moderator there was only so much I could do IF I wanted to attract posters who would engage in lively and informative discussion. To objectively protect free speech was one of the things I could do. And that was a pretty high goal to attain. But in the end, as it currently stands on any discussion board;

"The character of any board is determined by the posters themselves."

It really is up to we participants to engage civilly or not. We each set our own standards and live by them. We each reveal the content of our own character in how we anonymously interact with people we only know as words printed on a computer screen.