Political jabs are allowed in P&E, and in my opinion a little bit of riling up due to politics is to be expected. (ETA: Actually I think political jabs are allowed in GD too, but I wouldn’t expect to see them as much there) So where an aside such as “Republicans suck, news at 11” might not be acceptable in GD, I would think that is acceptable in P&E.
Surely you do not expect political discussions to be devoid of mean generalizations? If it were so, we wouldn’t be able to quote actual politicians.
As much as I agree with most of the political and other comments that @Hari_Seldon posts, I feel I must object to this moderation in the Election Day thread:
Not only is the tone snotty (“Get this straight” and “legislators in Timbuktu”), but this post itself is full of commentary that shouldn’t be said with mod hat on: “Electors are chosen to do one thing and one thing only and that is to choose the candidate voted on by the voters. They have no other function and have no discretion. The whole system is a 232 year old relic having no function today.”
That entire little rant is fitting for someone to post as a poster, not as a moderator. And it’s not clear that even that is on-topic for this thread, if you want to argue about that. This thread is about the election, not opinions about the electoral college. (And don’t we have another thread somewhere where the workings of the EC are discussed? Or was that earlier in this thread?) And the statement that electors have no discretion is still controversial, while calling it a “232 year old relic having no function today” is just a statement of opinion.
All that arguably doesn’t belong in this thread any more than a discussion of legislators in Timbuktu (depending on how strictly and narrowly we’re sticking to the topic to begin with), and certainly not by a moderator with mod hat on.
And note further that the particular post being modded here, by @Kolak_of_Twilo, is specifically calling this side-track is a hijack and suggests a separate thread for it. (Wait, isn’t that junior modding?) So he’s being threatened with a warning for saying just what the moderator here is saying?
Thanks for noticing this Senegoid. I was rather taken aback at Hari Seldon’s moderation of my post in that thread. I’ve alway found Hari to be a reasonable sort so it was rather surprising. Especially considering I’ve been around for 15 years or more and never been a troublemaker. Maybe a bit snarky at times but if we all got threatened with a warning for that…
Yeah, I agree it was not appropriate to include a personal opinion in a moderating post. In the past, mods would say “mod hat on” and “mod hat off” to clarify what was being moderated and what was personal opinion. To include it all together makes it easy to assume the hijack was moderated because the mod disagreed with it.
No, I don’t think that rises to the level of Jr. Modding. It’s just expressing a preference for the conversation to go elsewhere. If he had said, “Hijacking is against the rules here, you must go and discuss this elsewhere” that would be Jr. Modding.
The irony is that Hari Seldon’s points about presidential electors is a very debatable point. You could actually have a Great Debate about what the purpose and prerogative of electors are. So it’s not even a settled matter. So it’s strange to see that in a mod note.
To be clear - I don’t disagree with Hari’s rulings per se, only his habit of injecting inappropriate comments into his Moderator statements. Keep it simple and aboveboard when the hat’s on.
Yes, the post was inappropriate, but I personally felt it was similar to things Cecil and Dex had said in the past - that they were making their own bias clear, since no human is able to be utterly unbiased.
Hari_Seldon apologized , and didn’t make excuses, admitting fully that what he said was “idiotic”. Which means he’s aware and capable of learning, a trait I had previously never appreciated as much as I do now.
He is a new mod, what we’re doing (and correctly I feel), is giving him critical feedback. This is us saying ‘this isn’t a warning, but stop that’. Since many of us (myself included) have been given this sort of feedback, I feel it’s fine to give the same courtesy for Mods, especially those easing into their roles.
@Hari_Seldon - keep doing your best, it’s good to see the new mods getting involved, and if you stumble on the way, we’re all going to rib you, but most of us are doing it because we care. Good luck!
I can only thank you for your friendly vote of confidence and hope to do better in the future.
Although not an excuse, I just wanted to mention that when I woke up this morning I remarked to my wife how much calmer I felt than a week ago and she agreed.
I’m rather late to the party, but Hari, that post doesn’t seen like it’s worth the 118 posts it’s generated in this thread. I think you’re doing great.
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