"Can we have a voluntary rule or ‘practice’ that patrons wishing to take part in a discussion indicate up front how many posts they intend to contribute to the thread?"
You've got to be kidding me. You have the least amount of credibility of anyone in this forum for that suggestion.
. You said, "I intend make this one of two posts in this thread." That means you can't add any more posts. That means someone else is actually going to get in the last word. OMG! .
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.