# Curious when enough is enough? \[Der Trihs\] **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461 "2013-05-15T22:46:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![G-SE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@G-SE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G-SE)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/1 "2013-05-15T22:46:05Z")
In the recent [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690925) about Marley’s moderating, some posters brought up a perceived unfairness in modding with regards to Der Trihs. I decided to see what I could find, and here is an example of some of his mod interactions over the past year: [05/09/2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15046358&postcount=40) [06/30/2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15225584&postcount=50) [08/12/2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15377171&postcount=33) [11/07/2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15671997&postcount=30) [12/23/2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15826598&postcount=24) [01/16/2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15904707&postcount=41) [01/21/2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15922439&postcount=28) [02/03/2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15966508&postcount=23) [04/18/2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16208546&postcount=218) [04/27/2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16238489&postcount=50) [05/01/2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16249212&postcount=78) He’s averaging some kind of mod interaction about once a month, sometimes within just days of a previous scolding. Why do these continued infractions never amount to at least an official warning or anything harsher than “knock it off”? ---
**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, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/2 "2013-05-15T22:47:09Z")
They won’t. TPTB are habituated to his behavior. /$.02 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/3 "2013-05-16T00:00:06Z")
Hard to understand how such behavior is NOT considered “being a jerk”. Mod says “stop doing x”. You continue to do “x” at least once a month, indefinitely. Always the same schtick, often the exact same words. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/4 "2013-05-16T00:59:23Z")
Welp. It is begun. I guess I can cross Der Trish off my ‘interesting posts to read on the dope’ list, along with Dio. Won’t be long now. I gotta wonder, much like biblical commandments of olde and archaic constitutional amendments of yesteryear, are we losing our way about how things were originally meant when written? Is this really what was originally meant by “don’t be a jerk”? Are we to the point where we just want anyone who has an opinion that we find stupid to be warned until finally banned? ---
**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 16, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/5 "2013-05-16T01:15:06Z")
It’s not that his opinions are “stupid”. It’s that there are some subjects that he can’t, or won’t, post about without spewing inchoate hatred at groups, many of whom have exemplars who’re Dopers. His views paint the world like a comic book, where everybody is either a Hero or a Villain. And endlessly accusing huge swaths of Dopers of villainy, based on nothing other than differing politics, is not conducive to discussion or debate. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/6 "2013-05-16T01:22:16Z")
You must admit, he _is_ remarkably long-lived for a red-shirt… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/7 "2013-05-16T01:26:33Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Welp. It is begun. I guess I can cross Der Trish off my ‘interesting posts to read on the dope’ list, along with Dio. Won’t be long now. My thoughts exactly. ---
**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 16, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/8 "2013-05-16T01:30:54Z")
Dio wasn’t interesting, he was a Jerk. And having a reflexively contrarian schmuck gone from our ranks hardly counts as something worth fretting over, despite the fact that he could actually contribute positively… when the mood struck him. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/9 "2013-05-16T01:38:40Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Are we to the point where we just want anyone who has an opinion that we find stupid to be warned until finally banned? You tell me. The mods tell a poster to “stop doing x”. The poster continues to “keep doing x” over and over and over again. Not just once or twice, but like clockwork. That’s not someone with a “stupid opinion”, but someone who can’t or won’t follow the rules. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/10 "2013-05-16T01:45:41Z")
BTW, we have forums where such postings are perfectly OK. But in GD, I would like to see a reasonably high bar set, and if a poster repeatedly falls below that bar, then let them play in the Pit or IMHO, but stay out of GD. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/11 "2013-05-16T01:51:13Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Dio wasn’t interesting… Yes, he was. (that one was for you, Dio.) ETA: John Mace, I think you make a valid point. Great Debate posters should be held to a higher standard, I think. If they can’t meet that standard, they should fuck off out of GD. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/12 "2013-05-16T02:04:53Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Welp. It is begun. I guess I can cross Der Trish off my ‘interesting posts to read on the dope’ list, along with Dio. Won’t be long now. > > I gotta wonder, much like biblical commandments of olde and archaic constitutional amendments of yesteryear, are we losing our way about how things were originally meant when written? Is this really what was originally meant by “don’t be a jerk”? > > Are we to the point where we just want anyone who has an opinion that we find stupid to be warned until finally banned? You are rewriting history, making up reasons for things that are not true. **Dio** was banned for insulting posters. Being interesting has never, ever, ever been considered on whether someone broke the rules, and it would be a sucky board if that were the case. The OP of this thread alleges that **Der Trihs** repeatedly doesn’t follow the rules, and yet only gets mod notes. He could be the most interesting person on this board, and that should not matter. It would suck if the rules didn’t apply to interesting people. Plus, frankly, I don’t see what’s so interesting about him. His posts consist of the same tired topics over and over, plus some decent jokes. That’s not being interesting. I challenge you to come up with as many interesting posts as the OP came up with infracting posts. But, not here–in the Pit, where discussing our opinions of posters is relevant. Again, it doesn’t matter how interesting Der Trihs is if he’s breaking the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/13 "2013-05-16T02:13:04Z")
Oh no, I prefer to disparage everyone. Makes me feel like a supervillain. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/14 "2013-05-16T02:32:41Z")
Missed the edit window, but I will point out that BigT edited his post to remove the comment about me disparaging everyone, so my above post is a bit random. And I have decided against even responding to the clumsy edit now, so eh. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/15 "2013-05-16T02:40:52Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Oh no, I prefer to disparage everyone. Makes me feel like a supervillain. So, is your position that the mods should lift the rules forbidding us from insulting other posters outside of the pit? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/16 "2013-05-16T02:50:03Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > So, is your position that the mods should lift the rules forbidding us from insulting other posters outside of the pit? What? No… I…I just find Der’s posts interesting and I don’t want to see a steady progression of posters that disagree with him putting pressure on the mods to warn him, until they panic and start warning him pell mell, and then he is banned before you know it. That is my own opinion on the matter. Perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe I am just shooting off my dumb opinion and it is just awful and I’m awful. So what? It is time we all get used to getting scraped with sharp corners on this message board, because it aint always fluffy clouds and kitten fur. And Der or Dio or any other poster doesn’t have to be a genius poster to be interesting. Sometimes, their posts PULL OUT interesting posts from \*other \*posters who just may damn well be geniuses. I like to see that interaction. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/17 "2013-05-16T03:31:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It would suck if the rules didn’t apply to interesting people. They get cut more slack, and always have. Which is fine, if they’re really, really interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/18 "2013-05-16T03:58:20Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Welp. It is begun. I guess I can cross Der Trish off my ‘interesting posts to read on the dope’ list, along with Dio. Won’t be long now. … > Are we to the point where we just want anyone who has an opinion that we find stupid to be warned until finally banned? Pretty much, yeah. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > It’s not that his opinions are “stupid”. > It’s that there are some subjects that he can’t, or won’t, post about without spewing inchoate hatred at groups, many of whom have exemplars who’re Dopers. His views paint the world like a comic book… > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Dio wasn’t interesting, he was a Jerk. And having a reflexively contrarian schmuck gone from our ranks hardly counts as something worth fretting over, despite the fact that he could actually contribute positively… when the mood struck him. Finn basically voided his point with this last post. Dio was one of the board’s handful of experts (Masters level) at religious studies. His absence has compromised the war on ignorance. What’s interesting about Dio is that people complained about him “Putting things in the worst possible way” (generally in IMHO). But that’s not against board rules. In his ban thread, _none_ of his opponents ever complained about what he was actually banned about. So yeah, make enough enemies here and you will be modded for picayune stuff then summarily shoved off the board. For those who can’t stand the heat here all I can say is “Cry harder.” ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/19 "2013-05-16T04:26:11Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > What? No… I…I just find Der’s posts interesting and I don’t want to see a steady progression of posters that disagree with him putting pressure on the mods to warn him, until they panic and start warning him pell mell, and then he is banned before you know it. Did you see what post I was responding to? I wasn’t responding to your post defending Der, I was responding to this post. > [@](#): > > Oh no, I prefer to disparage everyone. Makes me feel like a supervillain. This post certainly seems to indicate that you liked being able to “disparage” people so I asked if you supported lifting the prohibition on directly insulting other people. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461/20 "2013-05-16T04:28:28Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Did you see what post I was responding to? > > I wasn’t responding to your post defending Der, I was responding to this post. > > This post certainly seems to indicate that you liked being able to “disparage” people so I asked if you supported lifting the prohibition on directly insulting other people. No. I only wrote that post to poke fun at BigT’s post. But BigT edited his post so that my post didn’t make any sense any more. I posted all that up thread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-when-enough-is-enough-der-trihs/658461.md?page=2)