The Nation has long prided itself as the place for debate on the left. In 1865, our founding prospectus established that “The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred.”

In that spirit, we afford our columnists the range, space, and latitude to state their opinions. Our columnists speak for themselves, and we allow readers and other columnists to disagree with them in subsequent letters and columns. But for more than 160 years, we have made it our mission to begin with the strong presumption that we will accept pieces from our columnists—even if our editors vehemently disagree with the opinions therein. We edit columns to sharpen arguments and refine prose—not to censor a columnist’s views.