Abuse clinic?

Question: How does the editorial staff define the parameters of civility (if at all) when selecting letters to the editor? Is there a difference between abuse and discourse? -- Iris St. John, Spokane

Answer: It's a subjective process, certainly. We want to facilitate a vigorous reader conversation about important public policy issues. Unfortunately, it's a fuzzy dividing line that separates that ideal from raw ranting and personal attack. In the end, we prefer to err on the permissive side, sharing Thomas Jefferson's belief that "Error may be safely tolerated when truth is free to combat it." -- Doug Floyd, editorial page editor