# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/41 "2015-09-30T04:10:09Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > **Tibby** , I was on your side until that post. It reeks of condescension, and I can hear your eyes rolling from here. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/42 "2015-09-30T04:54:31Z")
It didn’t seem condescending to me; I took **Tibby’s** post as an attempt to defuse tension through the use of humor. And while I did exactly guffaw while reading it, I was mildly amused. But I suppose attempts at humor on this board are a bad idea, because we certainly don’t all agree on what’s funny. If we did, this entire conversation wouldn’t be happening. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/43 "2015-09-30T05:55:10Z")
Seems like **Tibby** thought he could dance his way out of a warning in much the same way that he danced his way into one. Which is suggestive … warnings are only as valuable as you make them. Otherwise they’re just road pavement. ETA: Humor_less_ly, **Tibby**. ---
**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, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/44 "2015-09-30T05:55:12Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > **Tibby** , I was on your side until that post. It reeks of condescension, and I can hear your eyes rolling from here. Ok, I get that. But, I have a fairly consistent and long history of making posts that add humor to otherwise sincere messages. Granted, my humor often goes over like a lead balloon, and I realize my type of humor doesn’t connect with some people. But, I rarely poke fun of people I don’t like. I ignore people I don’t like. It’s the way I roll with people in real life, and it’s the way a roll with people on the SDMB. Take, for example **Idle Thoughts**. He’s one of my favorite people on this board. He strikes me as a sincerely nice fellow who’d I’d like in real life. I thought his April Fool’s joke was funny. It connected with me. He’s guilty of nothing but trying to bring a little humor into our lives. That’s not a bad thing, it’s commendable. He took a lot of heat for that joke, and I didn’t think that was fair. Sure, I could have made humorless posts in his defense, but, c’mon, those would have been ridiculed and not really helped at all. So, I went the opposite direction and poked fun of him, in a likewise humorous way. I think (I hope) that **Idle Thoughts** took my mock-offence at his April Fool’s joke in the manner in which it was intended: not to criticize him, but to highlight the absurdity of those who took _real_ offence to his humor. The same goes for **Snowboarder Bo**. I like him. I think his SBMB posts are funny and informative. He’s an asset to this board. He’s taking a lot of heat because of his _“quarry”_ catchphrase. It’s mildly annoying, but otherwise funny, in a meta kind of way. He too is taking too much heat from humorless Dopers. Again, I could have made humorless posts in his defense (to no effect), but instead I chose to take mock-offence at his repetitious catchphrase to highlight the absurdity of those who really _do_ take offence to it. If I thought that **Bo** really did feel threatened, or offended by my posts, I wouldn’t have posted as I did. But, I think he’s sharp enough to see the humor and the underlying message. I want Bo’s head to remain firmly attached to his body. **DSeid** is correct; I’m not overly concerned about receiving a warning on this board. I’m more concerned about the IRS and converting to ICD-10. And, and don’t care about, as **DSeid** mentioned, hurting my chances of getting into Harvard 😃 (I’ve spent enough time in school; I’m done). But, for the record I like **Bo** and I like **Idle Thoughts** and I think there are too many others on this board who take life a little to humorously. ---
**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, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/45 "2015-09-30T06:04:18Z")
Missed the edit. …a little too humourlessly. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/46 "2015-09-30T06:07:33Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > It didn’t seem condescending to me; I took **Tibby’s** post as an attempt to defuse tension through the use of humor. And while I did exactly guffaw while reading it, I was mildly amused. > > But I suppose attempts at humor on this board are a bad idea, because we certainly don’t all agree on what’s funny. If we did, this entire conversation wouldn’t be happening. He doesn’t get humorous until well after he was already being condescending. And his humor is entirely dismissive. And it’s probably not the best idea to be cracking jokes when trying to get a Warning rescinded, even if they are funny. ---
**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, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/47 "2015-09-30T07:27:27Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > ETA: Humor_less_ly, **Tibby**. Damn, you’re fast. ---
**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 30, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/48 "2015-09-30T12:48:04Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But I do rescind the “madness” comment as a bit impudent. My apologies. Impudence! I can’t decide if you are more roue or scamp! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/49 "2015-09-30T13:02:50Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Impudence! I can’t decide if you are more roue or scamp! I vote roux! ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/50 "2015-09-30T13:19:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > He doesn’t get humorous until well after he was already being condescending. And his humor is entirely dismissive. > > And it’s probably not the best idea to be cracking jokes when trying to get a Warning rescinded, even if they are funny. Yeah this is serious dammit! Actually I thought the humor, while only mildly entertaining, was a nice change of pace from the regular bitching and moaning about mod notes and warnings and so forth. ---
**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, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/51 "2015-09-30T14:19:44Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > IT should be because in no way was I threatening Bo. We understand that. You were, however, suggesting he deserved to be harmed, which is against the rules. You directly violated **Miller’s** instructions to knock it off. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/52 "2015-09-30T14:24:02Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > Thank you. > > …but, I see that my warning has yet to be rescinded. **Miller** doesn’t give many warnings, but when he does, he etches them in stone and tosses them in the quarry, where they permanently reside. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/53 "2015-09-30T14:48:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > We understand that. You were, however, suggesting he deserved to be harmed, which is against the rules. You directly violated **Miller’s** instructions to knock it off. I don’t think he did. The warning was “to knock off the violent imagery about **Bo**.” He was specifically referring to posts that actually talked about **killing Bo.** Tibby’s post involved violent imagery about an imaginary person who was, at best, an analogy of Bo. ---
**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, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/54 "2015-09-30T15:02:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Tibby’s post involved violent imagery about an imaginary person who was, at best, an analogy of Bo. Sorry, that just doesn’t wash. If it’s an analogy to Bo, it’s referring to Bo. ---
**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, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/55 "2015-09-30T15:55:56Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Sorry, that just doesn’t wash. If it’s an analogy to Bo, it’s referring to Bo. It was not. It was parsing out how silly the proffered definition of bullying was. Bo was not the subject of the discussion at that point; an absurdist definition of bullying was. The comment was goofy and irreverent and unlike other annoying humor pretty much one-off. Look it isn’t like anyone here will roux the day that this warning was given. IMHO it was a mistake but it is a mistake of little to no consequence. ---
**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, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/56 "2015-09-30T16:10:10Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It was not. > > It was parsing out how silly the proffered definition of bullying was. Bo was not the subject of the discussion at that point; an absurdist definition of bullying was. Sorry, that may have possibly been your intent, but it’s not how the analogy read. And regardless of what _you_ intended, it’s quite clear that **Tibby** was referring to Bo, since he mentioned throwing the head in a quarry in the second post that **Miller** included in his warning. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/57 "2015-09-30T16:15:05Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Impudence! I can’t decide if you are more roue or scamp! Is **DSeid** old enough to qualify as a [roué](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/rou%C3%A9)? Unrelated, but I’m dying for some deep-fried seafood right now, I’ve no idea why. ---
**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 30, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/58 "2015-09-30T16:17:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And it’s probably not the best idea to be cracking jokes when trying to get a Warning rescinded, even if they are funny. I agree with **BigT**. This is a message board people. This is not Bozo the Clowns’ Happy-Go-Lucky-Super-Awesome Pit of Balls where one is encouraged to have fun and play. Some things in life need to be taken seriously. What’s next? Are you going to start making of that Hollowed position that is Presidential Candidate and the Great Men and Women who occupy it? For shame. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/59 "2015-09-30T16:31:47Z")
I dunno… In a long, pointless, very lame thread in the Pit, if you see **Miller** showing signs of annoyance and starting to drop Notes, it would probably be a good idea to _not_ take that as a cue to start dancing near the line, practically advertising your services as a convenient example. You’ve got to think that he’s not particularly enjoying being forced to have to keep an eye on a thread so very, very lame, so he’s probably not keeping good mental track of who is posting their absurdities in jest and who is posting theirs out of hostility. **Tibby** , I say take it in stride and look at it like you did him a favor by being his example-setting patsy so that he could get everyone’s attention without having to pay too much attention, himself. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910/60 "2015-09-30T18:14:54Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I agree with **BigT**. This is a message board people. This is not Bozo the Clowns’ Happy-Go-Lucky-Super-Awesome Pit of Balls where one is encouraged to have fun and play. Some things in life need to be taken seriously. > > … Let’s all go down to the pond and push some ducks in the water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-gone-mad-miller/732910.md?page=4)