I would argue that there is a spirited debate being had here, but it is about misogyny on this board. I think it is a very important debate and one that a lot of Dopers would rather we not have.
Sorry to see you go. Best wishes. I’d be happy to see you as a non-mod, but I guess you are just leaving?
Thanks for fighting the good fight. I’m aware of how much aggro being a mod can be, and I appreciate you taking the time to carry out what is all too often a thankless job.
Bone, you wrote a lovely note. By showing more of yourself you became more than just a voice to people, you are wonderfully full and human. All too human, but we all are, aren’t we?
Your race, your color, any perceived differences, how you got here is not so significant; what matters is that you are, like so much of our history, another American who is one of the threads in our rich tapestry. As a testament to how the American dream still lives, it’s a beautiful story.
In this place conservative thought is often a voice in the wilderness. As right facing on a site that has deep roots in leftist liberal hippiedom counterculture – The Straight Dope was born out of the alternative newspaper millieu of the 1960’s – I’m afraid true conservatives are always going to be a minority view. We do try to encourage tolerance of diverse points of view, but we don’t always get there in spite of our efforts.
Today’s brutal tribalism and all in/double down scorched earth political culture gives no quarter to anyone with a divergent point of view, no consideration for others, and is undermining us as a society and a nation. This cuts on both sides; the fringes are destroying the middle. Any outpost of discussion is a blood drenched battleground. Unfortunately we are all swept up in this, you included.
Those who would take this opportunity to be ingracious and worse, hey, stay classy. Every action has a consequence; the karma wheel spins.
I hope you will continue on the board as a member, as a participant. Without the fetters of moderatorhood you will be able to find your truest voice. Perhaps that’s what you really need right now, more than service. Thank you so much for that service; you gave greatly and you are greatly appreciated for it.
Jenny
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
That sounds rather like a threat…
Is it ingracious to say that the ending I had hoped for was that you Tuba, as administrator, would see that Bone clearly had a blind spot that created a deficiency on the board’s most vulnerable issue and therefore remove him?
Where were you and this speech over the past week? Why were you not defending the women of this board? Why was a mod clearly in the wrong the only representative of authority? Did you not notice Miller correcting a mistake and owning up to his lapse? This problem corrected itself, but that cannot be the way the board runs.
Bone, I also hope that you will stay on as a poster. We need voices on all sides who see no need to make themselves pittable to gain attention or because they lack simple human decency. The vast majority of people here never get pitted (or get defended if someone is silly enough to do so). That number would be zero in a better world. Getting that number as close to zero as possible should be the board’s goal, and fairly easily attainable.
Tuba, it’s in your ballpark. Step up to the plate. Hit a home run. And continue sports metaphors to victory.
Bone, it’s a bummer, especially after just stumbling onto this board after our neoplatonic days long past.
I hope you stay on as a poster, albeit for selfish reasons. Though it probably doesn’t look like it here, I know from experience on other boards that as more conservative posters leave, the threshold will eventually shift to where I’m the token conservative. And when that happens, I know it’s grueling. Before the snopes board collapsed, I nearly left it for good (and I did take a few months hiatus after the last presidential election) over that feeling of being, somehow, “the token conservative.”
It’s hard to be the one, it seems constantly, having to say, “Hold on, I’m not saying your conclusion is necessarily incorrect or that I agree with this generally detestable person in the media, only that the logic of how you’ve arrived at your conclusion, and the basest possible motivations you’ve attributed to them and their supporters, doesn’t really follow,” and then getting the “What!? How dare you defend such a detestable person! That makes you just as bad—maybe even worse because you’re clearly duplicitous. Take it back! Take it back!”
And I’ve been the “raving liberal” on other forums (but I don’t think I’m in danger of becoming that here).
It just seems that as time goes on, the goalposts for what constitutes an arch-conservative or and arch-liberal seem to shift as people at one end get driven out by people at the other, and in time it leads to an echo chamber, where nothing gets discussed because there’s nothing to discuss: everyone is already in agreement. So, again, for selfish reasons, I hope you stay on as a regular poster, and I hope the attitude of the board can accommodate that without making it too painful for you.
Moderator Note
If you want to make Pit-style comments, make them in the Pit, not in ATMB.
Keep in touch, buddy.
I’m just gonna second what nelliebly, LHoD, madmonk28, and Exapno Mapcase said.
I’ve said it before, but it’s time to say it again: I wholeheartedly agree with those who applaud you as one of the best mods here in years (if not ever) and would consider that an understatement. You obviously put in a great deal of personal time in reorganizing and revamping the rules, in careful and evenhanded moderation (IMHO), and in putting in an extraordinary amount of time and thought into replying to the inevitable complaints in ATMB (which all mods get). And as I’ve also said before, politically we’re pretty much on diametric opposite sides of the spectrum, yet my respect for your fairness in argumentation and moderation remains unbounded.
Bone, your departure is a deep loss for the board. I feel terrible about it. I’ve said before that I’ve come to regard this place as a sort of virtual home and now I feel like there’s an empty space in it. Geez, man I wish you would reconsider, maybe stay on as mod but cut down on your time investment a bit. I could offer you the traditional token coffee cup as a bribe but the only one I have says “Real Time with Bill Maher” which – our politics being what they are – you would probably use for target practice! 
Man, I just wish I could get you to change your mind.
Bone, I am truly sad to see you go. But, considering some of the responses in this thread, I can completely understand why you might lose your cool. Come back as a poster when ya can.
Yeah, I’d say “I wish someone had forced you out” is a pretty in-gracious thing to say in a thread where someone resigns.
Bone, please dont go!
I will miss you.
I think it’s more accurate to say you interpreted it as a threat. It sounded to me like TD was saying no one should ever expect things to be hunky-dory after a major player is removed.
Yes, that’s what I said.
There must be a lifespan for a Moderator before they burn out, and **Bone **showed characteristic good judgment in knowing when to stop before the job got overwhelming. I hope you take a quick break, then return as a poster.
Come back and be the Conservative you think is underrepresented on this message board.
I think it’s more accurate to say that you interpreted it as TD saying no one should ever expect things to be hunky-dory after a major player is removed.
(I “interpreted” it that way too though.)
This. Come back and be the intelligent conservative that is definitely an endangered species on this message board. And if you’re a moderator as well, I’m fine with that, because you’ve always been eminently fair to both sides, and always at pains to explain your reasoning when challenged.