# On the topic of moderator bias **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 22, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561 "2009-11-22T20:38:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/61 "2009-11-30T05:50:26Z")
Well, fair enough, but I fail to see how implying that some dead cops (none of whom, presumably, were posters, or family thereof) “had it coming” is any more offensive than wishing for Mike Huckabee to commit suicide. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/62 "2009-11-30T06:04:29Z")
I also think it should have been kept out of the pit; there was no reason to put it there. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/63 "2009-11-30T06:05:18Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > One of the posters in question is at it again. In [post=11830612]this post[/post], **Diogenes the Cynic** makes a statement that is so far beyond the pale, so intentionally, determinedly incendiary that it can only be interpreted as a blatant act of trolling for reactions. And yet, despite active participation in the thread by one moderator, not a single admonishment has been made regarding this statement or the poster who delivered it. Not a single word toward, “Hey, might not be appropriate, maybe you shouldn’t say things like, ‘The cops just had it coming,’ just f.y.i. Thanks, Mngmnt.” Seriously? And it isn’t as if behaving like this in a consistent, goading, and yes _ **trolling** _ manner isn’t a bannable offense, as stated [post=7697084]here[/post]. > > There is really no reason that this sort of behavior should be tolerated and continue unabated. If the moderation doesn’t make some serious effort to control, constrain, or _waving hands and making ominous sounds_ as dire and problematic as it may be, suspend the individual in question until he can behave in polite society and not crap his way through every thread, I’m just going to start responding in complementary manner. > > Stranger Did you report it? In general, the mods don’t do anything unless someone reports a post. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/64 "2009-11-30T06:29:50Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Did you report it? In general, the mods don’t do anything unless someone reports a post. Why do you think it got moved so quickly? Yes, I reported it, and received a reply that was essentially that the poster violated no rules and everything he said was a-okay with the moderators. _shrug_ I’ve said my piece about it, and as even a cursory search of threads by this poster demonstrates a history of inflammatory, intentionally goading responses that clearly violate the “Don’t be a jerk,” policy under which several posters have been suspended, I’m just at a loss to why this particular poster is handled with kid gloves. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/65 "2009-11-30T06:46:16Z")
As I said in the thread proper (which was perhaps the wrong place for it), I personally didn’t see anything GD about it. It belongs either in the Pit or MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/66 "2009-11-30T07:50:10Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > As I said in the thread proper (which was perhaps the wrong place for it), I personally didn’t see anything GD about it. It belongs either in the Pit or MPSIMS. It doesn’t belong in the pit. I guess that leaves MPSIMS. The pit is for where people want to insult each other and be dicks, not where a bunch of people group hug about some cops getting shot except for one or two posters who think the pigs should put down. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2009, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561/67 "2009-11-30T08:37:27Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I agree, I think the thread should have been moderated like a normal thread in Great Debates. It should not have just been tossed into the trash, where it could turn into a free-for-all. I think there was a legitimate topic to be discussed there, even if emotion was running high (including my own.) Really? You think that it should have stayed in GD? Your own first post in that thread, which was also the third post in the thread as a whole, was: > [@Four Seattle police officers ambushed and shot dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-seattle-police-officers-ambushed-and-shot-dead/519369/3): > > I just hope the suspects who did it are caught and put in jail, so they can spend the rest of their lives living like heroes among their fellow “bloods” because they “offed a pig”, getting the best contraband alcohol and drugs, “pussy” (raping smaller, weaker men) and in general being treated like warrior-kings - all on your tax dime! > > Hooray for the justice system! This is not a GD post. It’s a stupid rant that does not offer the slightest useful contribution to any sort of “legitimate topic.” Make no mistake, if that thread got moved to the Pit, your own contributions were largely to blame. ETA: I think MPSIMS is the place for it. GD threads need some sort of actual premise for debate. If someone wants to start a debate about the legal mechanisms surrounding the death penalty, and whether or not the length of time it takes to exhaust appeals is reasonable, then they can start a thread about it. But that thread was started simply to make people aware of the killing of 4 cops. It’s not a GD thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-topic-of-moderator-bias/518561.md?page=3)