I was going to respond to this thread yesterday, before anyone else had started to discuss the moderating and guidelines, but then I realized that there was something wrong here. Itdo had his reasons for leaving this message board and it seems pretty clear to me that he had no intentions of making a fuss about this. He didn't like the attitude/opinions of some people here so he chose not to post. He is then contacted by a PM, which he replies to and the answer is then posted publicly, which I feel is wrong. I sent a PM to Chester yesterday, but he has not responded to it so I am now pointing this out here. If Chester asked itdo's permission to use this answer then it is okay, but since he has not replied I can't know if he has. Wether things should be moderated or not is a question I will not go too much into, but if you read what itdo says it is people who post things without any foundation that annoys him. Personal attacks against members of the Wayne family might be considered slander and if so it would be illegal regardless of having freedom of speech.
I know that the answer was posted with the best of intentions, but I still feel it is very wrong. PM's are personal. I am sure that itdo is quite capable of speaking for himself and that he would have done so if this is what he wanted.
Regards
Popol Vuh
PV,
First of all, I would like to apologize to you for not responding to your PM, which I had read, but hadn't had time to answer. I appreciate your thoughtful comments. Regarding itdo's communication with me, it wasn't a PM, but an email (not that it makes much difference as far as seeking his permission to share here - I confess, I did not ask permission, and perhaps I should have; in the instance of the other two notes I shared, they were of a much more general nature, and I don't think the authors would mind that I shared their response to me. In the case of itdo, there was more detail and perhaps I should not have posted it all, and if I "spoke" out of turn, then I apologize to Roland, in case he is reading all of this as a guest). It was not my intent to unnecessarily disclose anything of a private nature.
Now, to all -
Many have asked over the past couple of years about what happened to Roland, and I have been at a loss as to how to explain it to folks (though I have been aware of his feelings that whole time). I have received other letters of a similar nature from him, expressing basically the same things, after I have contacted him and encouraged his return to the board, in a friendly, non-pressured manner. It seemed that his own words might convey his reasons for leaving, much better than anything I could have typed. I don't know if anyone else has asked Roland why he left; if so, no one else has seen fit to share it here, though several have asked.
Though Roland's English skills are excellent, he admits it is not his native tongue (quite a surprise to me!). It is possible that a few things are simply misunderstandings (for example, I don't think anyone intends to literally wrestle a member of the Wayne family to the ground to get an answer about something, that is only an idiom). However, as others have mentioned, I also think that there is somewhat of a different mindset between Europeans and Americans with regard to censorship.
In a previous communication with itdo, I mentioned that freedom of speech was far more important than censorship of the board (I'm sure there are some who might be surprised by that 
). By the same token, as a moderator, I'm always trying to keep things on an even keel. I have been accused of both moderating too much and moderating too little. It's a fine line we moderators walk . . . .
Arthur and ejgreen, thank you both for your excellent posts. I didn't mean for all you folks to wear out your keyboards on this topic, but I do appreciate the comments and thoughts you have shared here.
As far as gaining the support of the Wayne family and/or Wayne Enterprises - we have tried many times, and not even gotten the courtesy of a response. If there is a better forum regarding John Wayne anywhere around, we have yet to find it, and believe me, we have looked. This message board might just be a little too "wild and wooly" for them to officially endorse, but I also think one that was mild and bland, without any critical thought, might be so boring that no one would hang out there 
.
So . . . just to allay any fears of being quoted without permission, I promise you all I will be more judicious in the future and ask permission first.
Chester 
boy, is the only one who has the 'power' to make those changes.
,
; our 'little bloke' is taller than the Mrs. now . . . not that it's that hard to do . . . ).
.
