“No political pot-shots in MPISMS” official mod notes should not include “I agree with your political pot-shot” commentary. Mod notes should stick strictly to the facts, and be unbiased.
Why?
Do you want the autobots that some sites have? I never minded the Mods interjecting their opinions and making things a little humorous at times as long as they stay objective and enforce the rules to make the SDMB a better place.
Hell, I feel like prior generations of Mods were a lot snarkier than the current crop of us.
That joke in your link would draw nothing but a modnote whether it was about Trump or Biden and the little extra ECG added, does no harm and instead softens the blow of a modnote. Though I’m not sure why some posters over-react to modnotes either.
Better than the decepticons.
It didn’t.
Yeah, ECG just said it was funny.
Anyway, since the moderators work for free, isn’t all the moderation un-professional?
Exactly.
Uh, wait a minute. …
Well, yep.
Yeah, i don’t see “i know you are joking” to mean “i agree with this political sentiment”. It’s an acknowledgement that even non-serious political pot shots aren’t allowed.
And “i thought it was funny” is hardly a ringing endorsement of the presumed political statement, either.
I try to separate my politics from my moderation. But failing to recognize jokes isn’t being impartial, it’s being blind to context.
“I thought it was funny” is a great bit of moderation, because it’s disarming. It shows empathy with the poster who’s being modded and softens the terrible blow, the humiliation and rejection and public shaming, inherent to a mod note.
Diplomacy isn’t unprofessional.
Narrator: It was at this moment when the light died in What_Exit’s eyes.
Lighten up, Francis.
Guys, mods are paid in the best currency ever. Love.
One thing is for sure: Son_of_a_Rich would never have been modded if trump was president.
“These people volunteering their time to do a difficult job aren’t doing it as well as I’d like”
I’ve been thinking about what my custom title should be and I think you nailed it.
You need to look at the context.
This is the “political jab”:
Out of context, it’s just a plain and simple political jab. But it’s actually a reply to this:
So it’s actually a fairly clever riff on conspiracy and political types who go out of their way to bend everything to fit their skewed view of reality. If you think it’s just a simple political pot-shot then you’ve missed the entire point of it.
That is the part that I found funny.
But in the literal sense it is still a political pot-shot, which we don’t allow, regardless of whether it’s a joke or not. Hence the mod note.
If anyone took offense or thought I was endorsing a particular political view or pot-shot, I apologize. That was not intended.
Something that makes it a little less jabby is that fact that trump would totally agree.
It seemed like a way to illustrate that the mod note wasn’t made because ECG personally disagreed with the politics of the post, but because of forum rules.
Suppose a mod had posted “This isn’t allowed.” Then they’re be somebody complaining “It was a joke. Not a serious comment. The moderators are banning humor.”
Suppose a mod had posted “I understand this was a joke but it isn’t allowed.” Then they’re be somebody complaining “The only reason this joke wasn’t allowed is because the mod didn’t agree with the politics. If he had, he would have allowed the joke.”
Suppose a mod had posted “I understand this was a joke and I agree with it but it isn’t allowed.” Then they’re be somebody complaining “Help. Help. I’m being repressed.”
Yes, we get a lot of love in ATMB. 
Add me to the boggled list. If anything, even if the language used had included the “I agree with your political pot-shot” commentary it would have been remarkable modding, and directly contradict one of the most common complaints about moderation from certain persons on the board. That it’s unfairly applied.
If a mod came in and said “I agree with you, but I’m modding against you” then it’s proof that the moderation is as impartial as human beings can likely manage.
So, yeah, kudos to ECG and all our mods who occasionally have to find in favor of behavior and posts I find repellant, against their own feelings, because they are applying the rules to all posters evenly.