I love the freewheeling rude, obnoxious and hysterically funny Letters section. I love the spats and the nutsos too.

Sometimes it's the best reading Salon has to offer.

And if it gets you clicks on your ads, why should you care if a few sensitive souls get their feathers ruffled? And if the Salon writers don't like it, just tell them not to look.

This is great! I have wished all along that Salon would find a way to regulate the letter writers who turn every comment into a personal argument. These people are childish and their letters detract from Salon’s wonderful letter pages. Some of the best letters to the editor I have ever read were in my cities main newspaper, and if someone replied to a letter writer in a courteous and well written way their letter would be published the next week.

What's the big deal with providing a name that sounds like a real name and a real e-mail address? Yahoo, MSN, Google, Netscape ... in fact, dozens of services enable one to obtain an e-mail address at no charge. Sure, you have to fill out a form with your "name" and other identifying information - but ain't no body checking to see if it's real. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.

I have enjoyed reading and posting to these letters to the editor. I like being able to respond to the articles, or to just throw in my $0.02 on whatever topic is at hand. I like reading the unfiltered, unedited comments of other posters as a way to get a feel for the cerebral pulse of America- or at least the subset of it that reads Salon. I’m always a little surprised how many conservatives you get posting letters ranting about something or other- and I’m forever curious about their motives.

I also like collecting those cute little red stars, and I hope to continue getting them occasionally. Unlike some (but certainly not all!), I do put a bit of effort into my posts. My job involves a lot of boring technical writing, and I sometimes use these letters to stretch my creative synapses a bit. As silly as it may seem, I like getting that small bit of validation conveyed by the editor’s choice red stars. Yeah it means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it makes me happy so think what you will. Maybe I’m just a teacher’s pet at heart.

However, I will not use my "real" name. As many others have already said, the potential for abuse, whether by future employers or internet miscreants, is certainly a concern. Secondly, even if I did use my real name, no one would believe it actually is mine because I happen to share it with a celebrity. Signing my real name would only make people think I was hiding behind an adopted name, which defeats the whole purpose of signing my letters in the first place.

Thirdly, if you have read any of my other letters, you know that I’m occasionally just a tad critical of the Imperial Bush Junta. No, really, it is true! I know it may sound crazy, but there are some things about the current administration and GOP lock stepping congress that really bug the bejesus out of me. In an age when the National Security Agency is conducting warrantless spying on American citizens and their electronic communications, is it really that paranoid to think that letters to the editor (or blog comments or whatever you want to call them) may be surveiled by the NSA snoopers? Of course, I probably already have an FBI file from just showing up at various protests, or from views expressed in private emails to friends. But I have no wish to give them more material to pad my file. I consider myself a patriot in the original mold, but in the current climate dissent and criticism are being branded as anti-American. Don’t dare question your government, citizen- they are only protecting you and their actions are by definition lawful.

And finally, I like my handle. “Chaostician” is an apt description of my outlook on politics and life- much more so than my “real” name. I am a studier of chaos, a student of discord, an assembler of the incoherent. I look for the emergent properties of complex systems, like, for instance, our government/corporate/media at work, and try to understand the linkages that may not be apparent to the casual observer. Chaos as applied to political systems holds particular appeal. I am proud of my views, and I won’t publish anonymously. If you want to know what I think, feel free to read my other letters. Heck, I wrote them for public consumption, there’s no reason to be shy about them now. If Salon’s editors need to reach me, I’m a paid subscriber and my e-mail address is already on file linked to my handle.

The difference, of course, between traditional “letters to the editor” and the newer, online version is that the older type was limited both to the subscription area of a publication and the transient nature of old newspapers or magazines. They were thrown out or recycled with yesterday’s trash. In the modern world, it lives on forever, and can be accessed from anywhere on the planet with an internet connection.

A simple solution would be to have two options for letters - one for “comments” and another more formal “letter to the editor” section.

It is easy for Salon editors to say you shouldn’t post something that you don’t want a potential employer to read. They live in San Francisco, work for a left-leaning publication, and Stating Opinions is their business. Many of Salon’s readers work for conservative organizations, or live in Red States.

I now slightly regret a couple of the letters that have been published in my name at Salon, not because they are ill-considered rants or poorly written, but because I deal with clients and work to maintain a professional demeanor with them. I’d rather them not read some of the political, personal, or even (yes) frivolous things that I put online - though now I do so without my name. I only offer opinions to clients about things for which I have a professional license. That would exclude most of the articles that I love reading on Salon. I don’t put bumper stickers on my car. I don’t advertise my views. I would say among friends anything and everything that I post at Salon or elsewhere online, but people other than friends know how to Google. If I had to rely exclusively on left-leaning Democrats for my business, I wouldn’t be able to pay the rent.