One of the first things that the Trib’s new owners, the Robinson family, made clear to me was that changes were coming to our opinion page.

The first, spelled out by Gordon Robinson, president of Robinson Media: Expect more conservative editorials.

The second was less public but no less important to the Robinsons: The opinions we published were going to be thoughtful and civil.

No more name-calling, they said. Make sure everyone on our payroll knows that.

Beyond the staff who builds our Opinion page daily, that meant one person: Ted Nugent, who has gotten a stipend every week for what has become a popular feature on our Sunday opinion page.

I sent Nugent an e-mail on behalf of the Robinsons asking if his columns could meet several conditions:

* That all columns are thoughtful.

* No personal attacks.

* Officials be treated with a modicum of respect.

* Offer your viewpoint instead of attacking that of others.

Within a couple of hours, Nugent responded via e-mail:

“Cando (sic) Carlos. let’s give it a whack. You got numerous of my pieces in hand, correct? Use what you can & we shall upgrade ASAP. In Africa now. T”

Unfortunately, with former Opinion Editor John Young’s departure, we were unable to locate the columns that he had sent. Last week we went without one until we could locate these columns.

So I was astonished to find out that Nugent had posted a note for fans on his Web site:

“So I get this spineless, soulless anti-American Email from Carlos Sanchez, new editor of Waco Tribune, listing new rules for my weekly Sunday feature telling me I cant (sic) criticize anyone, only recommend things, can’t have any negativity, only cute nicyness.”

He beseeches his fans to “HIT EM & HIT EM HARD!!”

I got severals e-mail complaints from his fans and three more telling me what Nugent had posted on his Web site.

When I shared Nugent’s posting with the Robinsons, I got clear direction from them to pull his column from their newspaper.

I must admit that Nugent’s rant angered me. Not so much because he was criticizing me — I get that all the time.

But because he didn’t have the courage to confront me directly.

In fact, his only communication with me was his expression of cooperation.

The irony of this disagreement with Nugent is that I have been one of his biggest defenders.

Two years ago, I sustained a strong attack from the left that demanded that I pull his column after a concert he had in which he held up what appeared to be some semi-automatic weapons on stage and unleashed on candidate Barack Obama, “You might want to suck on these, you punk.”

Then he turned his wrath to candidate Hillary Clinton and said, “Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless b——.”

I wrote a column criticizing his antics on stage but steadfastly refusing to pull his column from the Trib because I believe strongly that a diversity of voices is important.

The Robinsons have set certain standards for their newspaper, standards that Nugent seems to interpret as censorship.

Fundamentally, these standards are intended for contributors to stop shouting at one another. And, in particular, they are intended to prevent people from calling each other names.

Nugent has been an entertaining and a prolific writer for the Trib and he has developed a loyal following in this community.

It’s unfortunate for those readers who enjoy Nugent’s opinions that he is unable to express them in a respectful manner.

Editor Carlos Sanchez’s column runs Sundays. He can be reached at 757-5703. E-mail him at csanchez@wacotrib.com.