This mod note was added to a GD thread:
It strikes me as bad form to mix partisan sniping into a mod note that instructs we “leave partisan sniping for a different thread”. Any thoughts from the mod squad?
Yes. It appears to be a comment on your own behavior rather than partisan sniping.
May I just add a/an 
When the refs are growing tired of your antics, maybe the problem is how you are playing your game.
What? No.
The post clearly parrots back HurricaneDitka’s post, using the same language. HD accused a poster of political hypocrisy, and tomndebb turns it around and accuses him of the same hypocrisy, just in different areas. He even specifically references his post by using the word “shocking.”
A post addressing behavior would consist of only of the sort of thing in the last line, telling him to stop his political sniping. This is the form most moderator instructions take. It would have no reason to bring up the poster’s politics in any way.
Sure, there may be a valid argument for why such was the right choice in moderating. I’ve definitely seen moderating styles that would respond in such a manner.
But there is just no way the post in question addresses only the poster’s behavior. It very clearly mentions and calls him out for his politics.
And I clearly have no personal stake in any of this. If anything, you’d expect me to be arguing against the OP, as I have in most other threads. We do not see eye to eye on politics or even proper behavior on this message board. I actually usually think the mods are too lenient.
It’s just bizarre seeing you claim something that seems so utterly false.
He was inferring that HD was acting in a hypocritical fashion. See how simple that was? One tiny little sentence.
It was an attempt by tomndebb to get in a dig and then have the last word. It was an abuse of his mod position - if partisan snipes were something he didn’t want to see, he would not have made a partisan snipe - but what he wanted was one more snipe, aimed at HD, and then a chance to warn or ban him for not following mod instructions to not do what the mod just did.
Regards,
Shodan
OMG it’s abuse of the MOD POSITION. clutches pearls
^^Is that supposed to be clever?
To me it scans as “stop accusing others of hypocrisy when you’re doing the same thing.”
I agree with the sentiment. It should be a moderable action. Whataboutism should automatically be seen as a risk of endless unproductive thread derailment, functionally equivalent to name-calling. It’s a big part of the board rot around here. I would support a policy permitting mods to shut it down with extreme prejudice, except in threads where the ‘whatabout’ is introduced in the subject or OP.
I would stipulate that the mods should refrain from appending their own final ‘whatabout’ in the accompanying mod note, but my own risible situational ethics prevent me from doing so.
My apologies. I should have provided you a safe space before posting.
The MOD POSITION is the one exception to Rule 34. It can be never be shown.
Rule 34? Mod Position? Is that, like, what, the missionary position?
Mostly, except for the goats and the headless chicken.
And the coffee cup.
Yeeeah, I’m gonna have to agree (gulp) with the OP. This is basically tomndebb continuing the partisan hijack and then adding “Oh btw, stop partisan hijacking! Begone!”
Essentially (as a bad example since this would really be a warning, but anyway):
angry poster: Fuck you, bastard!
moderator: Oh yeah? Fuck you too, shithead!
… Also, no more personal attacks, take it to the pit.
It is trying to have the last word, a petty misuse of mod power/privilege. Just because it’s pretty minor doesn’t make it right.
That said, it’s not a warning, it’s a note–heck not even a note, just a brief modding–so it’s hardly worth getting up in arms. Especially because I don’t think you’re likely to get a change in behavior from this particular mod.
The safe place thing is pretty lame. I’m guessing you still think “snowflake” is an insult too.
Edit: Apologies to Blank Slate and the others for derailing.
Yeah, I think that was pretty bad. Mod notes should not include digs at the poster.
Cosigned.