I'll be short and to the point. Comments on blog posts are allowed at the discretion of the service provider and the individual blogger. Each blogger has their own style and their own way of handling comments. In a previous post a commenter tried to hijack the blog and use it to make statements about the city and county officials, the newspaper and his feeling that his First Amendment rights were not being respected. To all of that I say: "So what?"

The post had to do with only one subject. Anything not relating to that was off-topic and did not belong in the comment section. I tried responding to the individual, who goes by the nom de plume of Bodybag, and kept reminding him of the point of the post but he continued to go off-topic.

If someone wants to talk about what is important to them I say, "good for you, get your own blog." On your own blog you can say anything you want - as long as you are willing to accept the consequences, which could end up costing you quite a bit of money if someone can prove you libeled them.

The newspaper does not owe it to someone to provide them a forum for their personal views. They provide those of us who work here a space, but there are restrictions as to what we can say and do here. There are plenty of places where someone can get a free place to blog. If the restrictions placed on your comments in this forum are too stringent, go elsewhere and set up your own blog.