They're not digging their heads in the sand like traditional publishers are, trying to pretend the indie movement doesn't exist, or explicitly trying to exclude them from the inner circles by enforcing petty policies; or discriminating against them, like contests, reviews, and associations do by barring them from entry.
If George W. Bush has been a strong practitioner of war, that doesn't elevate his pettier domestic policies, whether an Enron-friendly energy plan or an inequitable economic "stimulus," to the holy grail or brand his critics as evildoers akin to Saddam Hussein (as one conservative group did to Tom Daschle in a recent ad).
And because while some of the debate struck me as petty, the science policy issues at least are vitally important.
A central selling point is the crackdown on crime and petty corruption, a policy that has quadrupled Georgia's prison population to more than 24,000 from 6,000 in less than 10 years.
Some texts suggest that, no matter how zealous its membership was, Al Qaeda had some of the same failings that afflict many organizations -- petty infighting, internal policy disputes and difficult relations with other organizations, in this case the Taliban.
To begin with, there is the false premise that the Bush administration has indulged in a petty and harsh policy toward Damascus that edged President Assad into a defensive crouch.
The Prime Minister told a delighted audience of the Labour faithful at a May Day rally in London yesterday that he intends to carry on at the head of government without allowing it to be diverted from the task of winning the next election by petty division on policies, procedures, or personalities.
And, second, because it seems a bit petty to debate Times policy instead of larger issues like, for example, genocide in Darfur.
The gap between official policy and the petty harassment and bullying that actually occurs is wide.
Supporters of Mr. Saakashvili's government said that the situation in the prisons was the result of an extremely effective "zero tolerance" policy for even petty crime, which has led to a quadrupling of the prison population to more than 24,000 from 6,000 in less than 10 years.
