# Ah, milroyj, we barely knew ye. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 13, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660 "2005-05-13T11:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/201 "2005-05-14T23:15:51Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > If you’re going to turn this thread into another Lib-fest, it’s going to be without my help. I won’t respond to you here again. You needn’t have responded at all to me, including when I opined that bashing defenseless people is unseemly, and you responded with “So?”. Nor need you respond just to announce how noble you intend to be by not responding further. I’ve asked you repeatedly to leave me alone. Why don’t you just shut up? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/202 "2005-05-14T23:18:56Z")
Hey, look everybody, **elucidator** has just passed 11,111 posts, and **Liberal** is about to pass 22,222. What? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/203 "2005-05-14T23:42:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Did he ever participate in threads where he wasn’t being nasty? Like a thread about hobbies, or something he was interested in? I never noticed, did anyone? It was to the point I could tell it was him without looking at the name. Hobbies? How would that go? “That’s a stupid hobby and you suck” or “Only fucking idiots would enjoy that” on and on and on and on and on and on. Some people are just predictable that way. I’m probably going to get flamed for this, but here it is. Whether he deserved it or not, whether he broke the jerk rule or not, I sure won’t miss him. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/204 "2005-05-15T02:37:46Z")
He was certainly someone who got attention. But he was also someone who I didn’t (couldn’t) mistake for someone else. For that, I will miss him. Or maybe not… ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/205 "2005-05-15T03:22:19Z")
My interactions with **milroyj** were purposefully limited. However, I will never forget his contribution to a Pit thread about a whites-only prom party. I think he posted “It’s a private party. They can invite whoever they want to” about 10 zillion times. As if it being a private party means that we can’t call the participants racist idiots. I’m actually surprised he wasn’t banned right then, because he was being a troll to the highest degree possible. Too bad I can’t find the thread so we can all reminisce. It seems the hamsters destroyed all evidence of its existence. I really can’t think of another poster who is just as bad as **milroyj** was. I would actually trade five **decembers** for a **milroyj** , that’s how annoying that guy was. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/206 "2005-05-15T05:39:45Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I really can’t think of another poster who is just as bad as **milroyj** was. I would actually trade five **decembers** for a **milroyj** , that’s how annoying that guy was. Your math is confusing. I’d like to see **december** back (the user, not the month - brrrr), but **milroy** was at least five times as annoying. If not **dec** , I’d rather have **Razorsharp** back before **mil**. Bigot though he was, **Raz** could at least contribute the occasional articulate post. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/207 "2005-05-15T05:44:28Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Your math is confusing. I’d like to see **december** back (the user, not the month - brrrr), but **milroy** was at least five times as annoying. I think the two of you are agreeing that **december** is one-fifth\*\* as bad as **milroyj**. The board has lost a great asshole, but somehow I’ll manage to soldier on. I can only hope he’s irreplacable. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/208 "2005-05-15T13:48:14Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Your math is confusing. I’d like to see **december** back (the user, not the month - brrrr), but **milroy** was at least five times as annoying. If not **dec** , I’d rather have **Razorsharp** back before **mil**. Bigot though he was, **Raz** could at least contribute the occasional articulate post. If **Lynn** announced that we had a choice: Ban **milroyj** and take in five **december** clones (_shiver_) or keep things the way they were, I’d gladly pick the first choice. So yes, milroyj = 5 decembers. Let me shut up before **Lynn** starts getting ideas. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/209 "2005-05-15T14:22:15Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > _Hostile hijacking_: in a discussion on the current military situation between Blefuscu and its chief rival Lilliput, in which the U.S has never shown an interest, someone posts that Clinton or Bush _obviously_ screwed it up and that only their dumbest partisans would fail to recognize the evil of that executive. Partrisans of both sides rush in to counter the calumny and **penis ensues.** I realize this was way back on page 1, but just because, can I get an explanation of that final bolded part? ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/210 "2005-05-15T14:23:20Z")
Hmm, well it was meant to be bolded anyway. “…penis ensues” is what I was referring to, of course. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/211 "2005-05-15T14:47:49Z")
> [@pantom](#): > > Hmm, well it was meant to be bolded anyway. “…penis ensues” is what I was referring to, of course. > Carry on. It’s a SDMBism. A poster (and I forgot who, but don’t have time to search) meant to type **panic ensues**. The mistype caught on and went on to live a life of its own. \*This knowledge was imparted to me by Og whose voice bled through over my Rio MP3 as I visited the Marianas Trench for a short time back in the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/212 "2005-05-15T14:53:45Z")
“[penis ensues](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=295988&highlight=penis)”: Board joke about calamitous threads or situations. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/213 "2005-05-15T15:04:31Z")
Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/214 "2005-05-15T16:09:08Z")
Shit, if given the choice between **milroyj** and say, **Serlin** , I’d have to choose Serlin. At least he was original, and sometimes his nuttiness was even interesting. With milroyj, it was always the same fucking shit, year after year, post after everloving, boring-ass derisive post. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/215 "2005-05-15T16:17:09Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > “[penis ensues](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=295988&highlight=penis)”: Board joke about calamitous threads or situations. I’m surprised that, as a moderator, you’re in and out of here tolerating all this bashing of a defenseless person. TubaDiva never allowed it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/216 "2005-05-15T17:38:03Z")
We may have different interpretations of what “all this bashing” entails. If every post was a “good riddance, he was scum” type post, I would agree that it was mere bashing and I would probably suggest that it be toned down or suggest to a **Pit** Moderator to consider closing it. However, a substantial number of posts have been cries that **milroyj** did not deserve banning and I would view the posts that bash him as simply the equivalent of “yes, he did.” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/217 "2005-05-15T21:58:26Z")
You’re smarter than that. Even given your extermely liberal assessment of the numbers, there is nothing wrong with arguing over whether or not he should have been banned. But no matter how many people say, “He should have been banned,” or how many say “He should not have been banned,” those are comments about moderation, and what moderators should have done — not comments about him as a person. But when people call him names, everything from “buffoon” to “creepy piece of shit jerk”, and declare him to be “nasty, angry, mouthy, and derisive” — these things are about the man. He literally cannot respond to people who characterize his posts as accusations of child abuse. That is not about moderation, but about him. And your refusal to acknowledge the difference amounts to your tacit participation in, and institutionalization, of the bashing. Perhaps my longheld respect means nothing to you, but if you continue to let this go on, I will think very differently of you from now on. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/218 "2005-05-15T22:27:28Z")
At the risk of getting in the middle of two people about to throw down, **lib** , both you and **tom** are respected posters on the board, and both of you deserve that respect. I doubt **tom** is being ‘un-smart’ in any way, and has simply modeled the data differently than you have. I do think it’s a tricky issue, and even though some of the people who’re posting are doing so to refute claims that this is somehow anti-conservative bias, some are, as you say, posting only to bash milroyj. Sometimes it’s hard to walk the line too, and there are grey areas. When I pointed out “The Al Capone effect” I wasn’t necessarily bashing milroyj, just pointing out that when a poster is a jerk, sometimes the warnings aren’t the sum total of his offenses. Could this be taken as bashing him? Probably, and I was pretty much calling him a jerk, but I was also arguing that the banning was legitimate. For what it’s worth I agree with you, and this thread seems far too much about bashing a defenseless poster, 'least for my tastes. But obviously the mods don’t agree, and I doubt that they’ve made their decision out of stupidity. Perhaps taking a debate about this thread to email would be better? Ah well, I’ll step out of the way now. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/219 "2005-05-15T22:33:57Z")
> [@](#): > > And your refusal to acknowledge the difference Not so much a refusal as that I had simply approached it from a different perspective. (Frankly, I’ve only skimmed the thread looking for issues addressed to the staff, so I have probably not paid enough attention to the slurs directed at **milroyj** –something I will now do.) ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660/220 "2005-05-15T22:39:10Z")
Oh, and, sorry **tom** I should’ve figured that you were perfectly able to handle the situation/respond for yourself. ~slinks off into the shadows. a.k.a. goes to taco bell for a late lunch~ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ah-milroyj-we-barely-knew-ye/303660.md?page=12)