[djf]

There are times when I think the thread poster should be a defacto moderator. For instance the other day, there was a thread about government expansion and constitutional powers, written by Sobran. (I didn't post it)

The thread quickly descended into an argument about Sobran being a nazi or somesuch. All discussion about the actual content of what he said ceased.

If I had originally read the article somewhere, and decided to post it for discussion, I would have been po'd.

[Netizen]

There are times when I think the thread poster should be a defacto moderator.

That's not a bad idea, but I think you would need to have a 'site' mod, too. That way the poster couldn't post obscene stuff and get away with it.