I don't mind if the editor actually improves the story. The local newspaper in a state I used to live in had an editorial policy for letters to the editor. The paper reserved the right to edit for brevity, clarity and spelling/grammar.

I kid you not, that editor was either illiterate, dropping acid, or both, because almost without exception, the letters to the editor looked like they were written by a cat on catnip. I'm talking poor spelling, incoherent transitions, and grammar mistakes that I haven't made since second grade.

I never submitted any letters to that paper, but I always felt sorry for people who did, because that editor made them all sound like coked-up illiterates who just learned English the week before.