Having a distinctive and independent editorial voice doesn’t make The Gazette non-”inclusive.” It simply means it stands on core principles — America’s founding principles — and won’t be buffeted around by ideological fads. The Gazette, even while holding firmly to its positions, was not averse to publishing contrary opinions or a diversity of views — at least in the 5 years I was there. We routinely ran critical letters, counter-point pieces and other-than-libertarian columns, even while jealously guarding the editorial space for our own perspective, as any self-respecting editorial page (even very liberal ones) would do. I venture to say you’ll find more diversity of opinion in The Gazette than in the Washington Post or New York Times.

Most of us who had the honor of running the pages weren’t shy about engaging in combat, or forcefully defending our positions, in sharp contrast to the wishy-washy, mealy-mouthed, boringly-above-the-fray pose struck my many editorial pages. And that’s bound to ruffle the feathers of some readers. But I think most readers appreciate an editorial page that actually has a philosophy, and will fight for ideas, even if they disagree with them.

The only person I ever blackballed from the pages was regular letter writer Phil Kenny, who became demanding and obnoxious when he couldn’t publish at will. Otherwise, the pages were open to all comers. Today the pages offer more “diversity” of views than ever. Liberals have been invited to sit on the editorial board and blog there. Yet we still hear the same old complaints — most often from folks who don’t regularly read the pages — that it’s not “inclusive” enough. Has Mr. Sawyer appreciated these bows to “diversity”? He hasn’t even noticed them. Will subscribers come pouring out of the woodwork if the Gazette begins to parrot The New York Times? Not in this town.

It’s not “inclusiveness” that some Gazette critics want; it’s conformity. But how can any paper have any editorial philosophy to speak of if it simply bends to the will of people who don’t understand or agree with it? Not that the Gazette cares, but its libertarian positions happen to be a good fit for this community. And I think it would be a serious mistake, simply from a business perspective, for the Gazette’s publisher to mess with that, just because the Hoiles family has lost the paper. Although a change of philosophy might win the current publisher praise at cocktail parties, and please the RINOs at the country club, alienating loyal editorial page readers will only hasten the paper’s demise.