Frankly, I think the bigger issue is all too human -- we get sucked in and participate when we really know we shouldn't (or maybe that's just me).

That may be why some people misbehave, but we have no way of discouraging that misbehavior.

And I'm having a hard time figuring out how moderation would actually result in the "good" discussion we really want in an example like the "beautiful is better than ugly" issue, without someone trusted individual approving every single post -- I don't imagine anyone wants to do that.

In a forum, the beautiful is better than ugly issue would be locked. No more posts can be added. If someone wants to discuss another proposal branching off of the original discussion, they can start a new thread. If they just want to lampoon, we can courteously ask them to 1) take it elsewhere or 2) move the post to a “malarkey” section of the forum where people don’t get notified.