During our town meeting season I came under personal attack from Kelly DeFeo in a letter to the editor that was remarkable for its intolerance and political insincerity. For the most part I did not mind, and at this house we found it far more discrediting to Ms. DeFeo than to me. I did appreciate the calls of those she angered, but I also appreciated their assent to my request not to respond. Thanks to a new militancy that Ms. DeFeo conspicuously represents, town and school meetings now produce violently inflamed factions, and provoking someone of demonstrated emotional volatility could be dangerous. Besides, this newspaper discourages columnists from responding to personal attacks, and doing so usually lends the illusion of legitimacy to comments that don’t deserve it.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.