The original plan for this week’s column was to be as snarky as possible. However, the death of a beloved fur-nephew over the weekend brought me pause (rest in peace, sweet Tomkin).

Tomkin, though, wouldn’t want me to dim my light any more than he would want his human parents to dim theirs. In his honor, I’ll try to muddle through with some answers to questions from readers. Dear Tom-Tom, may you have all the warm garden spots, chest time and head bumps you want.

Why haven’t you printed my letter?

Most likely, there might be problems such as these (most of which are outlined in the policybox that appears every day on the Voices page): You didn’t sign your letter or respond to requests for your name and town (no anonymous or pseudonymous letters); you used profanity or obscenity; you’re not from Arkansas; you sent something far too long (our northwest edition takes longer letters from northwest Arkansas residents only, but for the statewide edition, try to keep letters to around 300 words, which is about what fits in roughly 7 inches of column space); you sent in something about a personal, legal or business dispute (which is a huge can of worms legally, since we have only your side); you libeled someone or stated something as fact that isn’t objectively true (there is leeway for opinion, but you have to be careful how you state something; attribution of something to its source can help); you encouraged violence; you name-called a specific reader/letter-writer (there’s leeway for general groups of people, and for public figures such as elected officials, within reason); you sent a form letter, poetry, copyrighted material, etc.; you sent in a handwritten letter that was illegible; you insisted that your letter not be edited (everything is edited); you sent in something too soon after your last letter or guest column was printed (30 days is the established cooling-off period); etc.

Why are you such a radical left-wing nutbag?

Uhhhh … my mom and my church raised me to care about other people. If that’s radical left-wing nutbaggery, Jesus, Dale Bumpers, John Paul Hammerschmidt, and a whole host of people with whom I share beliefs would like a word. Besides, I’m moderate in my views (which range from conservative to liberal depending on the issue: fiscal issues, conservative; social issues, somewhat liberal), as are the majority of people. But the people on the fringes are louder, convincing some of them that their volume makes them the majority.

Gallup’s last poll on partisan affiliation showed a new record of 45 percent of people surveyed identifying as independent, with 27 percent each identifying either as Republican or Democrat. Gallup wrote: “In most years since Gallup began regularly conducting its polls by telephone in 1988, independents have been the largest political group. However, the independent percentage has increased markedly in the past 15 years, typically registering 40 percent or higher, a level not reached prior to 2011.” In addition, Democratic-leaning independents have increased by the same amount Republican-leaning independents have decreased. Whether that translates into change in Arkansas is anyone’s guess, especially as we are, in John Brummett’s words, “cussedly independent.”

In saner times, the members of the two major parties in Arkansas weren’t all that far apart philosophically, and could easily work together in most instances because they understood that Arkansas politics weren’t national politics. Now, though, it’s like the other side has cooties (forgive me for using that example, but the way politicians act now is increasingly juvenile, soooo …).

Why are the majority of the letters printed liberal?

The main reason they seem to track more liberal (though the bulk are moderate/liberal-leaning) is because those are the majority of the letters we receive (and can you really blame those writers for having an opinion on the state of the nation?); we can’t print what we don’t get. Some have suggested quota systems, but they don’t conform to the reality that fewer conservative people write letters to us overall.

I don’t care where you fall on the political spectrum; as long as you follow the rules, I’ll print your letter if I can. I’ll also chuckle every time you call a longtime conservative writer a flaming liberal because they’re not MAGA.

Writing a column opens you up to all sorts of attacks, ranging from fair (didn’t mention such-and-such, though we still have word limits because we do a replica edition, and we just can’t mention everything; no one really wants to read endless rambling) to outrageous (claiming things that were never said or done by the writer and others, libel, borderline and outright threats, etc.).

But the ones that always amuse me are those that no reasonable person could look at and say, “Well, that’s a valid point.” Tomkin is looking at that person who equates someone saying “fur-nephews,” “fur-nieces,” “furkids” and the like with bestiality.

Pretty sure he just rolled his eyes from kitty heaven. Good boy.

Assistant Editor Brenda Looper is editor of the Voices page. Email her at blooper@adgnewsroom.com. Read her blog at blooper0223.com.