As most readers of this site know, The Spokesman-Review hosts a large number of blogs. This one has been up and running only about three months now, and we've been pleased with the response. We're learning every day and we hope to make improvements as we move along.
One of the earliest posters to A Matter of Opinion was a person who had made frequent appearances on some of the other blogs and had been banned from them over a pattern of misconduct -- misconduct grave enough to result at one point in a restraining order against him.
He was advised that he could post here if he complied with the rules, but that he was still banned from the other Web sites.
Things went OK for a while, but recently he began trying to return to the other sites and using this one to carry on a line of argumentation that had no bearing on the public policy considerations this blog is meant to address.
In the beginning, I had expected more difficulties of this nature than we have experienced. We have now banned one user from A Matter of Opinion. I hope it continues to be a rare occurance, and I thank the vast majority of those who drop by to engage in vigorous, good-natured and heartfelt dialogue.

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