# Gonzomax's banning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 23, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824 "2011-11-23T00:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/21 "2011-11-23T14:08:56Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > What’s so bad about that? What’s so bad about people constantly coming up to the line of inappropriate behavior and poking their toe over it to see if they can get away with it? It’s fucking annoying, that’s what’s wrong with it, and I prefer a messageboard where it doesn’t happen. So I made my list of positives and negatives for banning annoying people. The positives won. The only negative I could come up with is the inevitable post by someone who doesn’t like me who tells me I’m annoying and should therefore be banned. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/22 "2011-11-23T14:09:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This banning was overdue. All the guy ever did was spew bile at his political adversaries, and insult them whenever possible. > > Good riddance! Should this standard be applied to the Usual Suspects on the right as well? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/23 "2011-11-23T14:11:37Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Should this standard be applied to the Usual Suspects on the right as well? It should apply to anyone who behaves that way, regardless of their political orientation. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/24 "2011-11-23T14:12:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It should apply to anyone who behaves that way, regardless of their political orientation. Hope springs eternal. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/25 "2011-11-23T14:15:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s fucking annoying, that’s what’s wrong with it… Correct. And the appropriate response to annoying behavior is to get annoyed. Or to put the annoying poster on "ignore.’ Or to pay scant attention to his posts. My point is that banning is a big deal. To deal with annoyances, it’s way-overkill. Banning, IMO, should be for chronic over-the-top trolls, spammers, and maybe gross spewers of invective and insults–and that last one is a slippery slope that I would hestitate to pull the banhammer on. It’s NOT (again, IMO) for posters who sometimes poke their toes over some imaginary, and certainly subjective, line for annoying behavior. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/26 "2011-11-23T14:16:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It should apply to anyone who behaves that way, regardless of their political orientation. Then who would still be around to post “This Board is SOOOO unfair to us few conservative stalwarts”? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/27 "2011-11-23T14:22:11Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Hope springs eternal. Why don’t you open a Pit thread and be more specific about who you think deserve banning? I can think of a few who might fall in that category. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/28 "2011-11-23T14:27:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Why don’t you open a Pit thread and be more specific about who you think deserve banning? Because that would just give him more of the attention he craves. Not going to give him more wank fodder. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/29 "2011-11-23T14:33:57Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Because that would just give him more of the attention he craves. Not going to give him more wank fodder. OK. I can buy that. ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/30 "2011-11-23T14:50:13Z")
Bigger loss than Dio. We have pleanty of pseudo intellectuals that like to argue for contrary sake. The angry blue collar stalwart will be missed and under represented. Not that he probably didn’t deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/31 "2011-11-23T14:57:23Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > My point is that banning is a big deal. To deal with annoyances, it’s way-overkill. On the contrary, it’s why I pay to post here. The moderation of poorly behaved posters is what separates SDMB from other boards. I don’t want to have to use ignore, or avoid threads, there are plenty of places I can do that. I don’t care about politics, but post like a normal human being (outside of the pit) or leave. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/32 "2011-11-23T15:18:52Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > What’s so bad about that? I’d prefer a clear case that people can agree on to threads like these. I think people are always going to have different opinions on bans and things of that type, particularly since there’s always some subjectivity involved in interpreting the rules and deciding whether to warn or give a mod note, for example. So that element will probably remains no matter how many steps are involved in the process. I think that regardless of people’s feelings about **gonzomax** individually, you have to admit the guy got a lot of warnings and had plenty of chances. If we had a different system we could have given him even more chances, but I think the pattern of behavior was pretty clear. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Seriously, what’s this “baiting” bullshit? Are we 10-year-olds? This banning was overdue. All the guy ever did was spew bile at his political adversaries, and insult them whenever possible. > > Good riddance! Since **gonzomax** can’t defend himself, please keep negative comments about him to a minimum. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/33 "2011-11-23T15:20:26Z")
nm ---
**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:** [November 23, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/34 "2011-11-23T15:22:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Since **gonzomax** can’t defend himself, please keep negative comments about him to a minimum. Just to be clear, “to a minimum” is not the same as “zero”. Do you mean zero? I’m not going to saying anything else about him, but others might. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/35 "2011-11-23T15:26:41Z")
Without getting too specific, I will note that now the board is denied a very useful metric and a clearly identifiable point on the continuum when comparing people’s mental acuity. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/36 "2011-11-23T15:28:44Z")
I join with others in rueing the losses of Diogenes and Gonzomax. I usually find their posts well worth reading, though I sometimes disagree with their views. Yes, they sometimes write irritably, but I can relate to that. (How many warnings have I had?) The King of Thailand always issues pardons on his birthday. Unfortunately, he is a Constitutional Monarch whose pardon list may be at the discretion of the Prime Minister,tailoring the pardon terms to fit her brother, financeer of the Red Shirt terrorists, and under arrest in the Kingdom. I’d ask Admins to give Dio and Gonz, both important members of the SDMB community, another chance. > [@twickster](#): > > … there was no evidence whatsoever that he was going to change that behavior, so, per our warning to him, we banned him. A special one-time chance, 5 December, in tribute to His Majesty Bhumipol. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/37 "2011-11-23T15:36:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just to be clear, “to a minimum” is not the same as “zero”. Do you mean zero? I’m not going to saying anything else about him, but others might. I’d like to keep it close to zero. Comments about warnings and his behavior are fine, negative comments about the man himself and stuff like ‘good riddance’ don’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/38 "2011-11-23T15:49:35Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > What’s so bad about that? I’d prefer a clear case that people can agree on to threads like these. When you get threads like these, I’d argue for patience and forbearance and tolerance, three qualities I don’t find a lot of in SD mods. I’m going to poke you in the arm. Annoying but not painful. You say “Quit it.” I do it again. You say “Quit it” again. I keep doing it. Each poke is individually exactly the same. Are you saying there is no point at which you will endeavor to **make** me stop? If I poke you 10, 20, 50 times, are they all too minor to react to? > [@](#): > > “Lynch 'im! Lynch 'im NOW!!” Yes, a messageboard banning for breaking the rules after a long series of warnings and a suspension is exactly like a call for immediate lynching. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/39 "2011-11-23T16:31:14Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I join with others in rueing the losses of Diogenes and Gonzomax. I usually find their posts well worth reading, though I sometimes disagree with their views. Yes, they sometimes write irritably, but I can relate to that. (How many warnings have I had?) I can understand missing some of the people that have been banned, but for clarity, it’s not a value judgement of them as a poster or as a human being; a person can be utterly brilliant, insightful, and amusing, and still be a jerk. As moderators, we do take tenure into account in some ways – for example, someone who is new typically doesn’t get as many chances, and may get no warning at all before being outright banned if committing a major offense like trolling. At the end of the day, though, the issue is really whether or not someone has had adequate time and warnings to make it clear that their behavior isn’t acceptable, and some chances to take that advisement and put it into effect. If someone chooses to ignore multiple warnings, or a suspension, we don’t look to at that point weigh whether or not they’ve created enough content or won enough admirers to justify their behavior. There’s just no such consideration made. We don’t want users to get banned – we want them to stop doing the things that will get them banned. If they are willing to do that, then no problem. We’re not out to remove people because they are annoying to us – heck, I tend to check myself twice as hard if I find a user annoying when I warn them, because I don’t like to make decisions in the heat of the moment and regret them later. On the flip side, the same applies to users whose posts we like or find of particular interest. We can’t use these as an excuse for bad behavior indefinitely. There’s a time for clemency – when someone’s honestly mistaken, when someone has improved but makes a slip-up after some time has passed, and so on – but it’s not because we just like someone’s posts. Such a system wouldn’t be fair to anyone, in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824/40 "2011-11-23T16:51:51Z")
> [@Keweenaw](#): > > Bigger loss than Dio. We have pleanty of pseudo intellectuals that like to argue for contrary sake. The angry blue collar stalwart will be missed and under represented. Not that he probably didn’t deserve it. Oh please. He wasn’t an “angry blue-collar stalwart”, he was an annoying idiot trying to be a moron. With him, his often-irrelevant links and his nonstop blather/trolling every other post gone, there’s a very good chance that political discussions can become marginally more interesting. Certainly the signal-to-noise ratio will improve tremendously. PS–I just looked. There’s no actual rule saying we can’t badmouth ex-posters. It’s a board custom but it’s a stupid custom so, in this case\* fuck him, I’m glad he’s gone. Good job mods and good riddance to him. \*Actually, in all cases: if you’re banned, you no longer post here. If you no longer post here, you’re just as open to name-calling as GW Bush or Paris Hilton. The “It’s unseemly to attack those who can’t defend themselves” meme was an idiotic idea from a poster who generated more bad ideas for the board than anyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzomaxs-banning/603824.md?page=3)