Civility in the Marketplace of Ideas [was: Public Domain Python]

[Pat McCann]

Vehemence and personal attacks can both be civil.  Cold-blooded deceit
and obnoxious public behavior cannot and those that engage in such
incivility deserve both vehemence and personal attacks, civil or not.
Thankfully, they usually get it and only the most head-strong are able
to resist conformance to community standards of civility. Unfortunately,
too many allow celebrities that entertain or otherwise do something good
for us wide latitude to be incivil which encourages more of the same
from them and others.  Leaders should be held to higher standards than
the rest of us, not lower.

Of course, this shouldn't be taken as a defense of everything said in 
public forums which allow a measure of anonymity where behavior is free
to sink far below even Stallman's low level of civility.