# I pit all the morons who continue to engage with Clothahump, and the mods who refuse to ban him **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 30, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452 "2017-07-30T17:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/21 "2017-07-30T19:23:04Z")
The [militia](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=831068) is out in full force today. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/22 "2017-07-30T19:24:15Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > **Skywatcher** , do you believe that moderators on this board should make moderating decisions based on what someone says at a completely different board? Why not? Several Dope mods keep an eye on what’s posted on Giraffe’s board and a lotta socks get caught that way. How is this any different? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/23 "2017-07-30T19:27:55Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > The [militia](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=831068) is out in full force today. You’re back! It’s been so long. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/24 "2017-07-30T19:35:08Z")
mb ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/25 "2017-07-30T19:36:56Z")
If he was the type of troll that replied, then it would be a bit more distracting, I will admit, but people rebutting or refuting him, or even taking potshots at him, in the Pit, is perfectly acceptable and cathartic, and with the fact that he more or less never replies to any of it means that it goes away fairly quickly, compared to trolls that keep coming back, and replying to all rebutters. We all have people we encounter in our daily lives that spout nonsense like he does. And we are often times not in a position to rebut or refute; whether that be because they are a boss or favored co-worker, a customer, a family member, an acquaintance, or some random person to who you do not have time to formulate and articulate a reply. He provides the service of being that person who gish gallops a bunch of word salad nonsense, and gives us a chance to properly articulate why what he said was wrong, which is something that we don’t get to do IRL very often. It also give the opportunity to practice and refine the replies to such idiocy, so that when we are in a position to make a reply IRL, the argument is already formulated. If nothing else, it’s hard to resist a good game of whack-a-mole. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/26 "2017-07-30T19:38:51Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You’re back! > > It’s been so long. Not long enough. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/27 "2017-07-30T19:39:36Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > The [militia](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=831068) is out in full force today. You mean people are saying things you disagree with? How horrible for you! Better just occasionally dip your feet in to snipe and snark, rather than actually take some effort to engage and try to see what the fundamental points of disagreement actually are. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/28 "2017-07-30T19:50:37Z")
I have no cites but I recall reading some posts from **Clothahump** which were at least neutral and sometimes contributory to the thread at hand. None of these were political threads or course; I believe they were technical in nature. He is normally a pain in the ass and he and I wouldn’t certainly not be friends IRL, but he mainly stinks up the board only as much as people let him by getting sucked into his vortex of idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/29 "2017-07-30T19:55:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > **Clothahump** is a steaming pile of shit, and dumb as a barge pole to boot. > > But that thread is in the Pit, and the standard for “polluting” such a thread should be pretty high (or, i guess, pretty low). **Clothahump** was just being **Clothahump** , i.e., stupid and offensive. If you don’t like it, just ignore him, or return some appropriate insults. > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Hey, guess what: _I can’t_. I can put him on ignore, buuuuuuut… Count the number of people quoting him or responding to him. 🙂 Somebody buy **BPC** a membership so he can put **Clothy** on ignore. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/30 "2017-07-30T19:59:28Z")
If you ban **Clothahump** , somebody else will take on the mantle of “Clothahump.” It’s just like the Dread Pirate Roberts, but with swaggering ignorance instead of buccaneering. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/31 "2017-07-30T19:59:33Z")
Of course the mods should take into account what people post on other boards _if it is about their behavior here_. Part of the mods’ job with trolls involves determining intent, and if someone announces their intent elsewhere, that is relevant. The mods should not cut off a source of information and thus allow someone to get away with trolling That said, there are caveats. For one thing, posters can lie to make themselves out as better than they are. Plus there’s the possibility that the person is only pretending to be the same poster. I doubt that’s the case here, though, and would be fine if Clothy were banned to make a point about trolling not being acceptable. As for my own opinion on the guy in question, I don’t really feel the ire. I’ve had him on ignore for a while for the way he talks, and I find that reading everyone calling him out amusing. He’s not like some infuriating posters who actually have good things to say sometimes. I do echo that people should not take the bait and let him hijack threads. But, other than that, have fun. When you’re angry at Trump stuff, you have this asshole who is so kind as to give you an easy target. He’s doing us a service–a service I tells ya! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/32 "2017-07-30T20:01:23Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Actually, he was quite helpful to me when I was working with some database and server issues. I very much valued his suggestions. > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I have no cites but I recall reading some posts from **Clothahump** which were at least neutral and sometimes contributory to the thread at hand. None of these were political threads or course; I believe they were technical in nature. Ok, then I’ll give him that nod at least. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/33 "2017-07-30T20:14:02Z")
**Clothy** is a partisan. The idea of banning him is bullshit. I mean, so what? He doesn’t agree with the crowd? Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/34 "2017-07-30T20:21:12Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Why not? Several Dope mods keep an eye on what’s posted on Giraffe’s board and a lotta socks get caught that way. How is this any different? Because socking is an offense independent of post content. Identifying a sock simply requires establishing that one real person has signed up for more than one account. To be honest, if they banned socks based on nothing but a unverified Giraffeboard claim, i would be opposed to that as well. They should also check IP addresses and other technical data related to location, in order to independently verify the claim of socking up. I assume that they do this. If they don’t, then anyone could get a new SDMB member banned by claiming on Giraffe to be his sock. Trolling, on the other hand, requires an assessment of post content. It requires looking at what people post, and evaluating their posts in order to determine whether they are making a genuine effort at communication. If **Clothahump** makes posts on this board that appear to be trolling, he should be warned. If he keeps doing it, he should be banned. Also, it’s possible to irritate people in debates, even intentionally, without actually trolling. It’s quite easy to combine a genuine and serious post with an effort to needle someone, and when this sort of thing occurs, especially in the Pit, any attempts to moderate for trolling should be required to clear a pretty high bar of evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/35 "2017-07-30T20:24:16Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I sincerely hope this doesn’t need more explaining, but _come the fuck on guys_. > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=832151](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=832151) > > This is just the latest example of a thread polluted by him. Not so much by him - he only posted a couple of times - but by all the fuckers who feel the need to feed the fucking troll. Yeah, the troll. Clothahump is an _admitted troll_. He’s admitted it. > > But even if he hadn’t, has he _ever_ made a post worth reading? Once? Even one single post worth reading? And yet, clearly he’s not on very many people’s ignore lists. There are two things that _ever_ happen when he shows up in a thread. > > 1. He makes an _incredibly_ stupid post and everyone ignores it. > 2. He makes an _incredibly_ stupid post and the entire thread devolves into people bitching and moaning about how stupid he is. > > And it’s fucking gross. It’s embarrassing on two fronts. > > Firstly: all you fuckers should know better. Every last one of you. This is a community dedicated to fighting ignorance, and at this point, if you feed the troll, I’m going to assume it’s either because you’re a moron or because you had a temporary lapse in sanity. Like I said, it’s not even _interesting_. It’s just the absolute most boilerplate “I’m an asshole republican” bullshit you can think of. There is _no point_. He doesn’t learn. He’s a fucking _troll_. > > Secondly: the moderators should _definitely_ know better. _How is this guy still here?!_ He’s not even an _interesting_ troll like most of the people who get banned after a few days (I’ll take that asshole from Rutgers’s latest sock account over him any day). He just throws out the stupidest, most obliviously dumb right-wing opinion available and waits for people to inevitably jump on it. Even if there was _any_ reasonable doubt that this fucker was a troll (which there really isn’t), the sheer detrimental effect he has on basically every thread he touches should be enough to put the fucker out to pasture already. There is no reason this person should still have posting rights. Or, if by some bizarre contractual reason you can’t ban him, [Tachy Goes To Coventry](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tachy%20Goes%20To%20Coventry) is a basic function on vBulletin 3, use that instead. > > C’mon. This guy is a stupid troll who makes everything he touches worse. Stop responding to him. Stop letting him pollute the forum. Ignore/ban the fucker. There have been smarter people banned for far lesser reasons. Wow - I take everyone off my ignore list and this is the first post I see. WHEE!! BPC, you are so wrong about me that you’re not even in the same zip code with being correct. But, hey, why let reality get in the way of a good rant, right? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/36 "2017-07-30T20:25:41Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Bolding mine. > > I’m not a fan of the poster, I find him obnoxious, but do you have a cite for the admitted to trolling issue? I set up someone to make a complete ass of himself. He bit on the bait and I hooked him. When I pointed out to him (and others) that he had taken the bait, I got suspended for a month. It was totally unjustified, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/37 "2017-07-30T20:26:25Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > But, hey, why let reality get in the way of a good rant, right? This should be your signature. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/38 "2017-07-30T20:27:02Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Wow - I take everyone off my ignore list and this is the first post I see. WHEE!! **FUCK OFF!** (2nd post you see, I hope.) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/39 "2017-07-30T20:30:36Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Because socking is an offense independent of post content. Identifying a sock simply requires establishing that one real person has signed up for more than one account. To be honest, if they banned socks based on nothing but a unverified Giraffeboard claim, i would be opposed to that as well. They should also check IP addresses and other technical data related to location, in order to independently verify the claim of socking up. I assume that they do this. If they don’t, then anyone could get a new SDMB member banned by claiming on Giraffe to be his sock. > > Trolling, on the other hand, requires an assessment of post content. It requires looking at what people post, and evaluating their posts in order to determine whether they are making a genuine effort at communication. If **Clothahump** makes posts on this board that appear to be trolling, he should be warned. If he keeps doing it, he should be banned. > > Also, it’s possible to irritate people in debates, even intentionally, without actually trolling. It’s quite easy to combine a genuine and serious post with an effort to needle someone, and when this sort of thing occurs, especially in the Pit, any attempts to moderate for trolling should be required to clear a pretty high bar of evidence. Personally, I don’t give a shit. This board is stuffed full of completely idiotic and mostly contradictory rules and has nothing much in the way of tools to moderate the, well, tools. The sock ban is stupid, the banhammer is stupid, if they had the sense the gods gave developmentally disabled root vegetables they’d figure out that something like Boxing or Coventry is a much better solution but since Li’l Ed took all the buttons away it’s going to stay stupid. Meh. People get the kind of board they deserve, I guess, and since the stupid rules here allow stupid trolls to troll stupidly for as long as they dance right up to the stupid rule line but not over it it will continue to be equally stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452/40 "2017-07-30T20:30:59Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Clothahump is a very angry, very stupid man who is convinced that he’s a lot smarter than he is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him post a non-angry useful information post. It is all partisan nonsense and straight out ignorance with a strong Dunning-Kruger anger running through every word. > > It would be different if he posted useful information once in a while or was capable of arguing a point rationally without calling everyone idiots. Wow. Another self-proclaimed expert on me who has learned a buzzword and wants to show it off to everyone. It would be nice if the majority of posters on this board were capable of arguing a point rationally. Instead, they haul out the good old ad hominem, or whatever the current buzzword is that is supposed to trump everything, and then they get offended when it doesn’t work. Now…a challenge for you. This was a non-angry, useful information post. Do you agree? If not, I’d love to hear your reasoning why. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-all-the-morons-who-continue-to-engage-with-clothahump-and-the-mods-who-refuse-to-ban-him/792452.md?page=3)