| Dear Carolyn: I was at a dinner party last weekend attended by 10 people. When the conversation turned to politics, one of the guests was insistent that she had heard enough that day. We are all nice people and didn’t want to cause her discomfort, so we censored ourselves. But afterward I became resentful, thinking she didn’t have the right to dictate the subject of conversation. I suppose there are some topics one might be justified in curtailing — gossip, overt sexual or gruesome things. But we are all politically active people, and I would have liked to have heard what others had to say. What could I have said to her that wasn’t rude to explain that her dictate was hurtful to me? Should I take her aside someday to tell her how the incident affected me, or wait until it happens again? And then what should I say? — R. | 
