By: Paul Caron, David Bernstein, George Mason, Paul Horwitz, Deo Volente, Clr Mishegoss
For the most part, the latest information doesn't change my general view that even if the board had some legitimate complaints, its actions were unwise. It was never, it seems to me, going to end up permanently spiking the issue or the article. It should not, therefore, have taken the article (and the website) down--even if its hand was forced by the editors. If it had or has complaints about the process, they could have been addressed after the fact, by a statement about the process followed with this article. More important, in the longer term, the board could carry out a reexamination of current policy, an assessment of whether current editors are following it, and a consideration of whether further policies need to be put into place. Some of these things might, for all I know, be a good idea. Vanishing the article and website was not. As everyone has noted, it certainly did not dampen the controversy that the board predicted the article would occasion by virtue of its subject—it super-charged it.