What do you have to say about it?

When my job began months ago at the TimesDaily, the biggest concern for the Opinion page was that we published anonymous comments from callers.

I knew eventually the "You Said It" feature would have to go.

I didn't like the idea of people being able to basically dictate a letter to the editor without backing it up with their name.

Then, I started bumping into mind readers.

"You better not kill 'You Said It,' " a security guard warned me. "That's the best thing in the paper."

Many other people expressed the same sentiments.

A few others complained that some of the callers make the community look backwards.

So, is "You Said It" good or bad?

I have come to appreciate the caller comments, and find them informative and entertaining.

Sometimes, they include good information that leads to news articles. At other times, they are hilarious.

Among the amusing things I've learned from "You Said It" is that President Obama is trying to bring communism to America just like Hitler did in communist Germany.

Another caller complained recently about "Liberian" dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

We don't make this stuff up, folks. We don't edit it, either. But we do kill some of them before they get into the paper.

If you want to attack someone who writes a letter to the editor, you'll have to put your name on a letter rather than hiding behind an anonymous call.

We might let you bash a politician in Washington, but if you want to attack a local person's name and character, forget it.

Sometimes the callers seem filled with hate or racism and their comments cross the line of civility. Some are inappropriate for a family newspaper.

On some days we get more than 100 calls, which a newsroom assistant must transcribe. We can only use a handful of comments each day, so we started posting the others online.

Some people call every day. Some call multiple times a day, but we only transcribe one of their messages. It makes you wonder if they are just lonely and need to talk, even if it's to an answering machine.

We're constantly re-evaluating everything about the newspaper, but for now "You Said It" is safe from the ax. That is partly because of reader feedback.

We want to make the newspaper better, so let us know what you think about "You Said It" or anything else in the paper.

And thanks for reading.

Executive Editor Scott Morris can be reached at 740-5721 or scott.morris@timesdaily.com.