# handsomeharry has been banned **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 27, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236 "2016-04-27T02:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**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:** [May 2, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/342 "2016-05-02T21:58:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > pleasing everyone isn’t actually part of my job description. Yep–just pleasing me. Which you’re doing. Which is good, because frankly, some of these other mods? Fallin down on the fuckin job. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/343 "2016-05-02T22:00:55Z")
My advice to the mods is that, going forward, you DO say, “Yep. That fucker was a nazi and we banned him because we fucking hate nazis.” And leave it at that. Dear God, anything has to be better than listening to interested parties drone on and on and on about how a nazi wasn’t treated fairly enough. I have so much sympathy for you all right now. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/344 "2016-05-02T22:10:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I don’t know if he was reported or not. I don’t get reports from the Pit. > > He wasn’t warned, as you know. > > … Not in the traditional sense that is. You did respond to him, in that thread, with; _Upping the troll ante, are we? …_ That may not have been an official warning, but it sure as hell was an indication that his trolling had not escaped notice. \*\*HH \*\*took that comment to heart and posted; \*Read it and weep, dull one. It just goes to show that everybody’s preconceived notions are set in stone. You/they cannot conceive of something that is not inborn (inbred?) within themselves/you. You have to have things black (smirk) and white. \*… Adding a racial jab to his insult. There are many more examples in that thread. In each of those examples HH did pretty much the same thing. Insult, ignore and troll. Now, someone tell me why he deserved a warning again? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/345 "2016-05-02T22:56:31Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I think it’s hilarious that a moderator will take the time to insist that an explanation as to why HH was not warned has been given, neither he nor anyone else was able to provide a quote when I politely asked. (I figured, “Hey, maybe I missed it.”) From the [annoucement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19287534&postcount=1) post: > [@](#): > > In the Pit thread in question, harry was not actually advocating for any position at all: he was self-identifying as a Nazi, insulting anyone who drew the most logical assumptions about someone who would self-identify as a Nazi, and then refusing to explain how his version of being a Nazi was any different from anyone’s preconception of what being a Nazi means. He was also clear that this was not something he would merely refuse to explain in the Pit, but was rather something he would not discuss with anyone on the board, in any capacity. That’s not discussing your honestly held political beliefs, that’s just trolling. > > [snip] > > It was clear, in the Pit thread in question, that harry was not posting to defend or advance any particular political position, but simply because he knew that saying, “I’m a Nazi,” would be a good kick to the beehive, and get everyone agitated - and that the less he described his actual beliefs, the more agitated the other posters in the thread would become. > > [snip] > > While we’re willing to tolerate views even that far out of the mainstream, on the basis that sometimes Dopers like an easy fight, that’s not a position that anyone on the moderation staff is particularly happy to see on the board, and not one that we’re going to go out of our way to allow to be heard here if they can’t otherwise abide by the rules. Particularly one who, as in harry’s case, had just demonstrated pretty conclusively that they weren’t interested in actually discussing their views. [Also](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19289222&postcount=105) [QUOTE=Miller] > [@](#): > > To reason by analogy - I don’t think any position however inflammatory, should be required to be expounded upon else they earn a banning, granted the rest of the rules of the board are followed. This is a bright line position. Yours is not - and leaves open the possibility for instabans for things people really don’t like. Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Was he following the rest of the board’s rules? Or was he trolling? The tricky thing about identifying a troll is that it’s a question about motivations, which aren’t objectively verifiable. There really is no “bright line” that distinguishes a troll from someone who expresses an unpopular opinion forcefully. It’s ultimately a judgement call if a particular poster is doing one versus the other. The opinion of the moderation staff is that **handsomeharry** was posting with the intent to troll - that is, he was deliberately taking positions and making arguments with the specific goal of becoming a pariah on the board. [/QUOTE] And [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19289508&postcount=119): [QUOTE=engineer comp geek] Uh… what precedent? We routinely ban trolls without warning. The only thing odd in this case was that the user in question didn’t troll right out of the gate. Most trolls start trolling immediately and are banned fairly quickly. The point remains that trolling is and always has been an instaban offense. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/346 "2016-05-02T22:59:38Z")
Your hero [returns.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19300925&postcount=52) ---
**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 2, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/347 "2016-05-02T23:02:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There were no further reports made from that thread. I started a thread in the mod loop suggesting we ban **harry** as a troll the next day, on the 25th. We discussed the subject for about two days, and then I banned him on the 26th. Wait, you banned him on the 26th? I thought you banned him on the 27th. This is seriously disturbing. I would have much less problem with your enforcement of longstanding trolling and jerk rules if you banned him on the 27th. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/348 "2016-05-02T23:15:55Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Your hero [returns.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19300925&postcount=52) “TheCommonHouseTroll has not made any friends yet” I are teh sadderest now :(. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/349 "2016-05-02T23:28:07Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > “TheCommonHouseTroll has not made any friends yet” > > I are teh sadderest now :(. > > CMC fnord! Cheer up. He’s still got an hour or so, until the mods finish dinner. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/350 "2016-05-03T00:37:32Z")
For the record, that guy didn’t get a warning before I banned him, either. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/351 "2016-05-03T01:12:44Z")
Snap, baby. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/352 "2016-05-03T03:02:41Z")
Did he make the record for fasting banning though? 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 3, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/353 "2016-05-03T03:22:28Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Did he make the record for fasting banning though? > > 🙂 Not even close. He had enough time to make a post. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2016, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/354 "2016-05-03T10:23:11Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I’d be fine if the mods really banned him because he declared himself a Nazi. It was the trolling, wink wink. HandsomeHarry doesn’t get to claim a kinder, gentler Nazism. The word already has a meaning. > > Why not discriminate? If someone wants to promote Nazism, or pedophilia, or the KKK, well, fuck them. Go somewhere else. What’s the upside of tolerating that shit? Some make-believe world of absolute free speech? It’s actual evil that does actual harm. Because sometimes the best way to fight ignorance and evil is to expose it to the light. If **hh** had seriously wanted to discuss Nazi beliefs we could have openly discussed why they were evil. And while we generally fail to disabuse holders of hardcore fringe beliefs of those beliefs, what we do do is create an easily-findable debunking of those views for others who are less resolute in their faith to see. Board history suggests that we have a much greater effect on lurkers than we do on the individuals with which we contend, and thus do we advance the cause of knowledge in imperceptible ways. But **hh** didn’t want to discuss his views; he just wanted to be a jerk. Which \*\*is \*\*a bannable offense. As I said before, ideally he would have received a warning but I agree that there was ample evidence the poster in question was seeking Suicide-by-Mod anyway and that the outcome would have been the same, so the PTB went with the approach that provided the most damage limitation. And here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/355 "2016-05-03T10:41:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Did he make the record for fasting banning though? > > 🙂 Please. Implying that any other mod holds the fastest banning other than me. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2016, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/356 "2016-05-03T10:53:33Z")
To be fair, at least he didn’t troll individual board members via PM by making ridiculous personal claims in order to provoke a response. I can’t remember who pulled _that_ one but I bet they got banned pretty quickly. Tongue firmly in cheek here. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/357 "2016-05-03T11:08:14Z")
It was an April Fools Day joke. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/358 "2016-05-03T11:48:00Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > It was an April Fools Day joke. Yes, Ross, we get that you were on a break. Seriously pulling your leg here, IT. Is there anything of substance left to say in this thread that hasn’t been said? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2016, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/359 "2016-05-03T12:18:06Z")
> [@Mithrander](#): > > This banning fills me with so much disappointment. A banning without a warning just shows where the board is going, and I refuse to go along anymore. > > \< snip \> > > This banning has just shown me that the glory days are gone, and the board I remember will never be coming back. I could rage against the dying of the light, but I reckon It’s just time for me to move on. This message board has given me thousands of hours of entertainment over the last fifteen years, and for that I am thankful. It’s been a wonderful mixture of fun, education, and snark. > > Goodbye. Bye-bye. I admire the courage it takes in your bold stance in defending Nazis. Good for you. Fare well. Hasta la vista. Toodles. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/360 "2016-05-03T13:10:19Z")
> [@Mithrander](#): > > This banning fills me with so much disappointment. A banning without a warning just shows where the board is going, and I refuse to go along anymore. > > I’ve watched for years as this message board has declined from what it once was. It’s pretty much a huge echo chamber now. Almost all of the interesting people have left over the years. The pit has become a pathetic joke, there will never again be an epic thread like Cervaise’s telemarketing rant. > > This banning has just shown me that the glory days are gone, and the board I remember will never be coming back. I could rage against the dying of the light, but I reckon It’s just time for me to move on. This message board has given me thousands of hours of entertainment over the last fifteen years, and for that I am thankful. It’s been a wonderful mixture of fun, education, and snark. > > Goodbye. Goodbye, old friend. I for one will miss your 1 post every 125 days. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/361 "2016-05-03T13:35:16Z")
He’s gotten more attention in the last 2 posts than he did in 15 years of posting here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236.md?page=19)