Bret: I gave one last parting glance at the Twitter reaction, much of it obscene, to the column, and it made me feel that much better about the decision. Twitter is supposed to be just another communications tool, and in theory it has its uses. In practice, it has a way of turning its users into jerks. And yes, God save you (or me), from tweeting something impulsively and then regretting it for the rest of the week.
At the risk of being self-congratulatory, let me just say that part of what we’re trying to do with these conversations is model a certain kind of discourse — disagreement minus nastiness — that we could all use a little more of. Now, did I mention that your readers are demented morons if they think Betsy DeVos is the worst member of the cabinet?
Gail: Ah, the beat goes on. See you after our Independence Day vacation next week, Bret. And meanwhile, if you can’t tweet something nice about somebody, don’t tweet anything at all.