# Moderation gone mad: Miller **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 29, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910 "2015-09-29T02:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/21 "2015-09-29T16:19:46Z")
Well, crap. I’m not going near the Pit _now_. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/22 "2015-09-29T16:24:25Z")
Anyway. **Colibri** mostly covered my response. Yes, **Tibby** ’s post was a joke. Here’s the first mod note I posted in the thread, with added emphasis: > [@Snowboarder Bo: Enough with the fucking quarry](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowboarder-bo-enough-with-the-fucking-quarry/732525/146): > > [Moderating] > Alright, everyone. Enough with the jokes about throwing **Bo** , or bits of **Bo** into quarries. Threatening to harm other posters, **even in jest** , is against the rules. Let’s stick to less violent insults from now on, please. > [/Moderating] There were two follow-up notes to that, one specifically addressed to **Tibby** after she indicated that she thought the first note didn’t apply to her. (Spoilers: it did.) As to the idea that **Tibby** wasn’t talking about **Bo** , sorry, that doesn’t hold water. “Hypothetical person B” was clearly a rhetorical stand-in for **Bo**. **Tibby** echoed the “lop of your head” language she had used earlier when talking about **Bo**. She then followed it up with: > [@Snowboarder Bo: Enough with the fucking quarry](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowboarder-bo-enough-with-the-fucking-quarry/732525/363): > > And, of course, now that I’m a Bo-ist, I’d take person B’s head to the quarry after the movie and throw it in. So, yeah. She’s talking about **Bo** , and playing games with seeing how close she can get to the line without getting a warning for it. I’m okay with that. I respect that game. But it’s not a real game unless there are consequences for playing badly. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/23 "2015-09-29T17:11:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > But it’s not a real game unless there are consequences for playing badly. Cue Hunger Games cannon. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/24 "2015-09-29T18:09:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > …and playing games with seeing how close she can get to the line without getting a warning for it. I’m okay with that. I respect that game… **Miller** , you’re a cun… …ning moderator. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/25 "2015-09-29T18:15:01Z")
I thought it was a stretch, but I see your logic. And frankly, after already dropping 2 notes (one specifically to Tibby) and a Warning, it’s hard to get too mad because Tibby definitely knew she was dancing on the line. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/26 "2015-09-29T18:41:45Z")
Must…resist…obvious… **Marley23** …joke. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/27 "2015-09-29T18:58:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > We do try to get him to stay in the Pit as much as possible, though. I TOLD you the chain link fence wouldn’t work. We need a brick mason in here. Get the dart gun. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/28 "2015-09-29T20:04:35Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Must…resist…obvious… **Marley23** …joke. Is that the one that goes, Marley, a Rabbi, and a Priest walk into a bar: and the bartender says, “Why the long face?” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/29 "2015-09-29T20:08:14Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I TOLD you the chain link fence wouldn’t work. We need a brick mason in here. If only there were someone running for PotUS who had expressed a desire to build a wall… ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/30 "2015-09-30T01:14:25Z")
I still think the moderation was heavy handed Bo-ist was a reference to a different [comedic bit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18724196&postcount=344) and I do not believe Tibby meant B as Bo, nor was I meaning B as a stand-in for Bo: I was trying to illustrate to AnaMen what her definitions of bullying meant by specifically taking it out of the specifics of the thread and into a different hypothetical. The discussion there was about what I was characterizing as an absurdist use of the term “bullying”, not about Bo’s tic. But I do rescind the “madness” comment as a bit impudent. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/31 "2015-09-30T02:33:12Z")
I personally would have liked to see a different poster catch a different warning. …But meh. I didn’t report it; i have no room to bitch. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/32 "2015-09-30T02:47:18Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I still think the moderation was heavy handed Bo-ist was a reference to a different [comedic bit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18724196&postcount=344) and I do not believe Tibby meant B as Bo, nor was I meaning B as a stand-in for Bo: I was trying to illustrate to AnaMen what her definitions of bullying meant by specifically taking it out of the specifics of the thread and into a different hypothetical. The discussion there was about what I was characterizing as an absurdist use of the term “bullying”, not about Bo’s tic. She used the exact same imagery she’d just been mod noted about, to describe a character named “B,” who had just been used in an analogy about **Bo**. And then she name checked him directly and referenced throwing things into a quarry. I’m supposed to believe that wasn’t about **Bo**? C’mon. > [@](#): > > But I do rescind the “madness” comment as a bit impudent. My apologies. No worries. I wasn’t fussed about it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/33 "2015-09-30T03:09:24Z")
[Madness!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQGh8MkpNOg) ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/34 "2015-09-30T03:18:47Z")
[Madness!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-uyWAe0NhQ) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/35 "2015-09-30T03:34:49Z")
Sorry, I’m late to the party again. Well now, who or what are we discussing in this thread, guys? Miller? I can get into that… \ \ HEY! WT\*!.._ME?!?_ When I got Millers “note” I had to click out to see if I had inadvertently stumbled into the [Emily Post Forum of Etiquette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Post)—nope, I was still in the BBQ Pit. When I got Millers “warning” I had to click out to see if I had inadvertently stumbled into the [Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/books/review/miss-manners-guide-to-excruciatingly-correct-behavior-aint-misbehavin.html?_r=0) Forum—nope, I was still in the BBQ Pit. **SDMB BBQ Pit** : The no-holds-bar forum where men are Orcas, women are men, and Dopers are admonished for pseudo-threatening pseudo-people. C’mon, look at my posts in that Pit thread. Do you really think Bo felt threatened by that? Do you think after reading it, he was more inclined to take out a restraining order on me, or just chuckle? Why not ask him? (Bo, did you get that $5 I transferred to your account?). > [@raventhief](#): > > The thing that caught my attention about that warning is the phrasing Tibby used. He said something about "lopping off Bo’s head, " caught a note directly addressed to him, then used the exact same phrase when referring to the hypothetical person and what he would do - "lop off " their head and use their hat as a popcorn bowl. I saw it after he caught the warning, But i wondered if he was trying to be entirely too cute and got busted. Well, I have been told I have a cute butt, but I’m not sure what that has to do with this discussion. But, yeah I got a note for a mock pseudo-threat to a poster who I like just fine, and who is intelligent enough to understand a joke as a joke, not a threat. Was I trying to scare Bo, or make him feel bad? No, I thought he’d read it and chuckle. He’s not a kid; I think I read somewhere that he’s in his nineties. People his age need a good laugh. I like Bo. I wasn’t even siding against him with his overuse of the “quarry” catchphrase. To each his own is my motto. I thought even Miller’s note was over-the-top, but, ok: mock threat/real poster—fine, if you want to interpret that as breaking a rule, I won’t contest the note. But, it’s a pretty big leap to go from getting a note for mock-threatening a real person to getting a warning for mock-threatening a mock-person, don’t you think? I used the same terminology in both posts because I was doing a little comedic riff and “lopping” is a funnier word than “cutting” or “sawing” or “chopping.” I figured removing Bo from the so-called “threat” of the riff made me in compliance with the _“don’t threaten another poster”_ rule I believed the “note” was based on. I wasn’t trying to skirt the rule I was given the note for, I was complying (i.e. take real people out of the equation), while still continuing the comedic bit. So shoot me for trying to bring a little levity into Dopers lives (on second thought, don’t do that, Miller may give you a warning for the mock-gunfire). **DSeid** is 100% correct; **Colibri** and **Miller** are 100% incorrect. I was not using **Person B** as some sort of proxy for **Bo**. Saying I _was_ is just psychoanalytical Freudian SDMB moderator psychobabble. **Person B** is **Person B** ; **Bo** is **Bo** —a banana is just a banana, not a penis (and, no, I’m not calling **Bo** a penis. I sometimes put a banana costume on my penis, but, again, that’s not relevant to this discussion). So **Bo** is not **Person B**. **Bo** is **Bo**. No? I mean, if you want to dig into my psyche about this, at least realize that Bo is a dude (I think, unless he pulled an **Idle Thoughts** and converted) and I made imaginary **Person B** a \*woman \*(because women are the ones who wear big hats. Stove-top hats aren’t that popular with guys these days. I put a tiny stove-top hat on my penis sometimes, but, again, not relevant). But, more importantly, **Bo** , as the object of my head lopping comedic bit just _doesn’t work_—it’s not funny; it’s incongruent. Recall, just before that post I posted that I \*mock converted \*to Bo-ism. IOW, I was now _“worshipping”_ **Bo**. Why would I want to lop off the head of my new found “messiah”? Not funny. **Bo** was not **Person B**. So, who the hell is **Person B**? Is she a real person? Is she a Doper? No, she is not (ok, if there really is someone on this board named **Person B** , I’m going to be very embarrassed. Don’t anyone register with that name just to make me look bad). Therefore, if **Person B** is not **Bo** , and she is not a real Doper, I have not broken the “don’t threaten a Doper” rule. I respectfully request that my warning be rescinded. Don’t make me a pseudo head lopping martyr. If not for me, do it for my mother (may she rest in peace). She was always proud that her favorite son (the one who didn’t get 8 to 10 in the federal Pen) had a zero warning count in the SDMB (_sorry, ma, I tried my best. Don’t let Dad beat me when I get to heaven_). And, besides, I’m a compulsive type person. Warnings are kind of like potato chips. Once I eat one, I might eat a whole bag of them. Getting fat with warnings could make my normally cute butt start to droop (that would be a loss to all womankind). I was about to post a very insightful OP in GD about head lopping with regard to Marie Antoinette and Ann Bolin, now I’m too scared to do so. That’s a big loss to the SDMB. Happy? > [@Miller](#): > > \ > So, yeah. She’s talking about **Bo** , and playing games with seeing how close she can get to the line without getting a warning for it. I’m okay with that. I respect that game. But it’s not a real game unless there are consequences for playing badly. Well, you’re not very good at playing the _“gender identification”_ game, **Miller**. Want me to show you my banana with the stove top hat? And, no offence, but henceforth, in my mind’s eye, whenever I see **“Miller”** I will see, **[Seinfeld] [del]NEUMAN![/del] MILLER! [Seinfeld]** ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/36 "2015-09-30T03:44:43Z")
Well, that seemed sincere. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/37 "2015-09-30T03:54:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, that seemed sincere. Thank you. …but, I see that my warning has yet to be rescinded. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/38 "2015-09-30T03:57:33Z")
**Tibby** , I was on your side until that post. It reeks of condescension, and I can hear your eyes rolling from here. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/39 "2015-09-30T04:06:44Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > Thank you. > > …but, I see that my warning has yet to be rescinded. You’re explanation wasn’t the least bit convincing as to why it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/40 "2015-09-30T04:09:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You’re explanation wasn’t the least bit convincing as to why it should be. IT should be because in no way was I threatening Bo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910.md?page=3)