A Comment on Comments

People see The Gossips of Rivertown as a platform for sharing information and opinions, and I am thrilled by that. I love the fact that readers participate in the exploration of Hudson's past and the scrutiny and analysis of the present which is the stuff of Gossips. From time to time, however, comments cease to provide new information or further the discussion in a meaningful way and degenerate into exchanges of personal criticism among commenters. This puts Gossips between a rock and a hard place. If I don't want the comments on Gossips to deteriorate into sniping worthy of a chat board--albeit much more erudite and articulate--I have to reject comments and decide who gets the last word, and I don't like being put in that position. 

So please, if your comment only reacts to someone else's comment or prolongs an exchange of personal criticism that is never likely to reach resolution, consider that it is often OK to have an unexpressed thought.