# Complaint against samclem **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 27, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909 "2007-04-27T23:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/1 "2007-04-27T23:03:52Z")
In a pit thread in which I am the subject the following was posted: [QUOTE=samclem] Would someone be so kind as to link me to the thread where **Scylla** admitted that he sometimes trolls the board? I remember it, but can’t seem to find it. Thx [/QUOTE] There is no such thread. No such admission. I do not troll the boards. I resent and consider it innapropriate for a moderator of this board to state otherwise. Such a statement coming from a moderator can effect my reputation and posting status on the board, and result in my banning. **Samclem’s** fabricating such a lie, or lacking the good sense to be sure of himself before making such a statement is unconscionable considering his status as a moderator. I would have preferred to simply handle this by email, privately but since **samclem** made his false claim publically I wanted to see it corrected publically. Thanx, ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/2 "2007-04-27T23:14:57Z")
There IS such a thread. Perhaps you never used the word “troll.” But the jist of your response in that thread was that you are not above posting false information on this board. As soon as someone posts a link to that thread, and after I read your words, I’ll post a public apology if I decide that you didn’t imply that you are not above posting such for effect. Until such time, bite me.\* \*Said as a poster, not a mod. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/3 "2007-04-27T23:26:01Z")
The board has a good search function. If you’re so sure **Scylla** made such a claim, it seems the classy way to go about things would be to take the time to search for a few key words and find it rather then drop insinuations in public. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/4 "2007-04-27T23:31:48Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] The board has a good search function. If you’re so sure **Scylla** made such a claim, it seems the classy way to go about things would be to take the time to search for a few key words and find it rather then drop insinuations in public. [/QUOTE] Of course I’ve done this before posting. Probably spend half an hour doing such. But couldn’t find it. But it exists. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/5 "2007-04-27T23:32:01Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Such a statement coming from a moderator can effect my reputation and posting status on the board, and result in my banning. Two things. First, what exactly do you imagine the process for banning a poster is like? Considering how long folks like **badchad** managed to hang around here, it seems that the standard of proof is a bit higher than, “One mod says he sort of remembers a thread where **Scylla** said something sort of like an admission of trolling. Off with his head!” Second, is there anyone on this board who hasn’t already formed a pretty solid impression, good or bad, about what sort of a poster you are? You’re not exactly uncontroversial, you know. In the interest of fairness: > [@samclem](#): > > As soon as someone posts a link to that thread, and after I read your words, I’ll post a public apology if I decide that you didn’t imply that you are not above posting such for effect. Wow. That sounds real fair. You don’t know what the thread was, or where to find it, or even what it really said, but by God, you’re not retracting your accusation until someone finds it for you and decide if it really was what you think it was! In the future, I recommend you print this post out and carry it with you every time you get called for jury duty. Show it to the clerk as soon as you get to the courthouse, and you won’t even have to wait to get before the judge to get excused. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/6 "2007-04-27T23:35:45Z")
I just rolled my eyes so hard my contacts became uncomfortable. I remember the thread, too. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/7 "2007-04-27T23:37:03Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] Of course I’ve done this before posting. Probably spend half an hour doing such. But couldn’t find it. But it exists. [/QUOTE] I dunno, granted **Scylla** has a buttload of posts, but if you can’t remember any keywords or relavant time periods to narrow down the search enough to find the one you claim to remember after a half hour of searching, it might be that you are misremembering the meaning as well. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/8 "2007-04-27T23:48:03Z")
Seems to me that if **Scylla** has ever actually made such an admission, without leaving himself a semantic trap door, the time to act upon it has passed. Therefore, I’m presuming that no such action is currently contemplated. Is **Scylla** deliberately provocative? Oh, my, yes. No question about that. Is that the same as trolling? In many cases, yes, but that determination is above my pay grade. If I knew precisely where that post lay…well, if I thought it was aiding and abetting a motion to ban, I wouldn’t say anything. Wouldn’t be fair, if nothing was done at the moment. If I thought it was sought only to provide healthy criticism, or even just to provide a jolly good clobbering, I’d be on it right quick. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/9 "2007-04-27T23:54:03Z")
Nothing, _NOTHING_ I have posted about this, is in my capacity as a moderator. This is a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/10 "2007-04-27T23:55:49Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] I dunno, granted **Scylla** has a buttload of posts, but if you can’t remember any keywords or relavant time periods to narrow down the search enough to find the one you claim to remember after a half hour of searching, it might be that you are misremembering the meaning as well. [/QUOTE] Thanks for your analysis. But there exists such a post by **Scylla**. I’ll start searching again. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/11 "2007-04-28T00:01:57Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] Until such time, bite me.\* \*Said as a poster, not a mod. [/QUOTE] Sam, you’re an asshole. Or possibly a tool. Not sure which. The thread in question is one where several posters are taking **Scylla** to task for their interpretation of his words, with - at the point you made your comment - many of them accusing **Scylla** of calling for genocide against Arabs. Your comment in that thread is an _obvious_ accusation that you saw **Scylla** ’s original comments as an attempt to troll the boards, and you were looking for information to back you up. Had you asked this privately of other moderators, that would be one thing. But, no - _you specifically asked this in a thread **created** to call Scylla out for his comments_. And because your title is “Moderator”, and you used the word “troll” - a bannable offense - it makes the easy and obvious conclusion that you are searching for information to ban Scylla with. This is not fair and even-handed moderation. This is demagougery. This is _stirring the fucking pot_ by making a _backhanded accusation_ for which you _have no fucking proof_ in a thread **designed** for people to attack Scylla. This is taking your position of Moderator and using it to _completely dismiss_ any statements by a poster because you’re imply that you are about to have him banned. If you actually had a legitimate question, you should have asked it of the other moderators and admins. Or do what _all the fucking moderators tell us to do when we have questions about poster activity or bannings - **ask people in private e-mails**._ Your actions are disgraceful, and I for one will not stand for it. This is my last post to the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/12 "2007-04-28T00:01:57Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] Nothing, _NOTHING_ I have posted about this, is in my capacity as a moderator. This is a non-issue. [/QUOTE] Well, in \*that \*case…[Mr. Burns] Release the hounds![/MB] ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/13 "2007-04-28T00:02:04Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] Nothing, _NOTHING_ I have posted about this, is in my capacity as a moderator. This is a non-issue. [/QUOTE] But it’s UNCONSCIONABLE! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/14 "2007-04-28T00:02:50Z")
If I recall correctly, it was either [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414998), or in the related [Pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=415013) thread. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/15 "2007-04-28T00:08:56Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] And because your title is “Moderator”, and you used the word “troll” - a bannable offense - it makes the easy and obvious conclusion that you are searching for information to ban Scylla with. [/QUOTE] I don’t believe this is so. As you should know, moderators are posters too, and, in the Pit, are just as allowed to unofficially call people trolls as are other posters. This is, and has been since my first week as a mod, a hot button for me. There is only one thing I am not allowed to do as a mod that another poster can do, and that is to start a Pit thread against a fellow member of the SDMB. (Or perhaps that’s just against another mod. Whatever.) When not posting as a mod, I am free to be just as inane, supercilious, and chip-on-the-shoulderish as everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/16 "2007-04-28T00:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] This is my last post to the Dope. [/QUOTE] :eek: ☹ I hope not, your posts have helped me learn several things I didn’t know. I do hope you come back. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/17 "2007-04-28T00:13:39Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] This is my last post to the Dope. [/QUOTE] Are you always this big a fucking drama queen, or is there some other reason (not related to this thread) that you made that statement? Either way: later, bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Scornhole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Scornhole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scornhole)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/18 "2007-04-28T00:17:12Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] If I recall correctly, it was either [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414998), or in the related [Pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=415013) thread. [/QUOTE] I’m not a fan of Scylla’s tactics, but I don’t see anything in either of those threads that amounts to an admission of trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/19 "2007-04-28T00:19:10Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] This is my last post to the Dope. [/QUOTE] You know, **John** , there are a lot of decafinated brands on the market that taste just as good as the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909/20 "2007-04-28T00:20:16Z")
John, are you sure about that? I’ll miss your words. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-against-samclem/401909.md?page=2)