# Poster Warned then Suspended for debating in Great Debates **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 21, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092 "2019-10-21T16:26:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/1 "2019-10-21T16:26:24Z")
[A poster has been Warned then Suspended](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21928715#post21928715) for daring to debate a subject in Great Debates, due it seems to one Mod making up specific rules for that poster, then wrongly applying those rules. This makes a mockery of the whole idea of having a debate forum at all, and moves this place ever closer to an echo chamber. Also, suspensions are supposed to be announce by the Mods in this forum, which hasn’t happened. I would hope the Powers That Be will rescind this suspension and remove **Bone** as a Mod immediately, due to his inability to stop his personal feelings about posters affecting his modding. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/2 "2019-10-21T16:33:40Z")
If the Mod says “Don’t Do That” and you disregard, hands will probably be slapped. If you get lippy about it immediately after, don’t be surprised if you get a time-out. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/3 "2019-10-21T16:35:37Z")
Many times after a poster receives a warning they feel compelled to make a snarky comment, or some other ill-considered action such as the case here. In many cases the mods tend to shrug it off as is our wont. That’s our discretion though. Given the previous history I elected to not exercise that discretion. As for announcing suspensions - you’re right about that. We typically do announce them, however in some cases like preventing a meltdown, a quick 3 day suspension or something along those lines can happen, and those don’t typically get announced. You may not have been aware of them because…well they weren’t announced. As for this one, it will be announced most likely, but we’re having conversations about the content of that announcement. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/4 "2019-10-21T17:08:27Z")
On the one hand, the mod injunction that he broke was quite broad and subject to all kinds of interpretation in theory. On the other hand, in practice he pretty definitively broke it by most of those interpretations. I suspect the irony of getting suspended for railing about “Brutal infringement of anti-state speech” wasn’t lost on him. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/5 "2019-10-21T17:16:07Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > On the one hand, the mod injunction that he broke was quite broad and subject to all kinds of interpretation in theory. On the other hand, in practice he pretty definitively broke it by most of those interpretations. > > I suspect the irony of getting suspended for railing about “Brutal infringement of anti-state speech” wasn’t lost on him. I think it’s telling that I knew who it was based solely on your description above. (I followed the link and sure enough I was right.) That just reinforces how repetitive this behavior is. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/6 "2019-10-21T17:26:06Z")
With that particular poster, though, it was a bit different. It was his schtick to inject his pet topic - authoritarianism and statism - into everything, to the point where it was becoming a semi-hijack in multiple threads. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/7 "2019-10-21T17:31:20Z")
> [@](#): > > A poster has been Warned then Suspended for daring to debate a subject in Great Debates, due it seems to one Mod making up specific rules for that poster, then wrongly applying those rules. Ironically, in my eyes at least, you’ve condemned your position with your own link. A nasty, insulting comment like that deserved exactly what it got. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/8 "2019-10-21T17:39:46Z")
Didn’t the poster in question just come off a one-week suspension for essentially the same thing that has got him warned this time? I’m guessing he’s well down the road to a permanent vacation. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/9 "2019-10-21T17:48:56Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > With that particular poster, though, it was a bit different. It was his schtick to inject his pet topic - authoritarianism and statism - into everything, to the point where it was becoming a semi-hijack in multiple threads. Talking about the power of the state in political threads is not as off topic as many of the things talked about in political threads. It’s just that this particular topic and this poster are pretty tightly linked and stand out as anomalous. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/10 "2019-10-21T18:47:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If the Mod says “Don’t Do That” and you disregard, hands will probably be slapped. > If you get lippy about it immediately after, don’t be surprised if you get a time-out. Same thing as a cop making up a BS law\* then arresting you for it. If you resist that’a a whole separate crime and is perfectly valid even if the original arrest is not. \*FTR I’m not saying the original modding was BS, but even if it were it does not make it in the rules to ignore the mod notes. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/11 "2019-10-21T18:54:30Z")
“suspended pening discussion in the Mod loop” or something like that. I figure its a time-out and in this case one that got earned. If it goes beyond that I suspect it will be announced here at some point. I don’t believe its 100% but its damn close to it. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/12 "2019-10-21T18:59:09Z")
Just backtracking on where this came from, Bone had issued the following instruction back in July: > [@Trump vs Regular Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-regular-joe/836629/21): > > This is fair notice to you. I’m done with you interjecting your pet topic of statism or authoritarianism or the combination in unrelated threads, as well as passive aggressive denigrating the board. This goes for this thread, and all other threads in GD and Elections. I am bookmarking this post and If you do this again, you will be warned… This injunction is quite understandable. But I have to say I don’t think Will violated it in the thread in question. His comment was relevant to someone suggesting that an ex-president could be quietly silenced by the state. Here’s the prior comment in the thread, then Will’s comment that got him a warning: > [@Hypothetically, what if an ex-President loses it and starts spilling state secrets?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-what-if-an-ex-president-loses-it-and-starts-spilling-state-secrets/841989/14): > > Yep, I totally agree. > > A former President who just decides to leak classified information would just be arrested, like any other person making an unauthorized disclosure. > > There wouldn’t be any Secret Service hijinx, no relegation to a black site, no tampering with Twitter or iPhones, no insane asylums. Just arrest and prosecution. > > If an ex-President wouldn’t shut up after arrest and conviction, they would probably end up in solitary confinement somewhere so they have very limited ability to speak to the outside world. Just like any other person convicted of the same crime. > [@Hypothetically, what if an ex-President loses it and starts spilling state secrets?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-what-if-an-ex-president-loses-it-and-starts-spilling-state-secrets/841989/15): > > Brutal infringement of anti-state speech. Such is the treatment of actual whistleblowers under the current regime. See Manning, Snowden, Binney, etc. So, much as I agree that Will posting repetitively about his hobby horse is a bit tiresome, given that he didn’t have a complete topic ban but an instruction not to post about it when it’s _irrelevant_, I’m not sure Bone’s warning for WIll making that comment was fair. Of course, Will’s subsequent petulant reaction to the warning is another matter. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/13 "2019-10-21T19:22:15Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Just backtracking on where this came from, Bone had issued the following instruction back in July: > > This injunction is quite understandable. But I have to say I don’t think Will violated it in the thread in question. His comment was relevant to someone suggesting that an ex-president could be quietly silenced by the state. Here’s the prior comment in the thread, then Will’s comment that got him a warning: > > So, much as I agree that Will posting repetitively about his hobby horse is a bit tiresome, given that he didn’t have a complete topic ban but an instruction not to post about it when it’s _irrelevant_, I’m not sure Bone’s warning for WIll making that comment was fair. > > Of course, Will’s subsequent petulant reaction to the warning is another matter. I agree with this. Will’s first post did seem relevant to the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/14 "2019-10-21T19:26:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Just backtracking on where this came from, Bone had issued the following instruction back in July: > > This injunction is quite understandable. But I have to say I don’t think Will violated it in the thread in question. His comment was relevant to someone suggesting that an ex-president could be quietly silenced by the state. Here’s the prior comment in the thread, then Will’s comment that got him a warning: … **Riemann** , I think your analysis is a bit of a stretch. The subject of the thread – right in the title, in the gist of the discussion, and even in your quote – is about _ **classified information** _, and specifically about would be done about an ex-president leaking classified information. This is worlds away from “anti-state speech” (i.e.- criticism of the state, such as is prohibited in totalitarian regimes), and protecting classified information is in no way “brutal infringement” of the right to criticize the state. This is just **WillFarnaby** once again riding his fervent anarchistic-libertarian hobby horse in an irrelevant context, the exact thing he was instructed not to do. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I agree with this. Will’s first post did seem relevant to the conversation. Will’s first post was not what got him the warning. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/15 "2019-10-21T19:39:18Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Just backtracking on where this came from, Bone had issued the following instruction back in July: > > This injunction is quite understandable. But I have to say I don’t think Will violated it in the thread in question. His comment was relevant to someone suggesting that an ex-president could be quietly silenced by the state. Here’s the prior comment in the thread, then Will’s comment that got him a warning: > > So, much as I agree that Will posting repetitively about his hobby horse is a bit tiresome, given that he didn’t have a complete topic ban but an instruction not to post about it when it’s _irrelevant_, I’m not sure Bone’s warning for WIll making that comment was fair. > > Of course, Will’s subsequent petulant reaction to the warning is another matter. But folks should notice that my post was agreeing with his prior post, in which he was incredulous that the Government would use extra-judicial means to silence a former President. I agreed with that. Since he and I basically never see eye-to-eye, I would speculate that he could not stand that we agreed on something, so he rode off on his anti-statist hobby horse in responding to my post in which I agreed with him, creating the whole downward spiral. Note also that when he was responding to other posters about the crackpot extra-judicial punishment theory, he was quite civil and on-topic. In case anyone is wondering, I did not report any of his posts. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/16 "2019-10-21T20:06:33Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > This injunction is quite understandable. But I have to say I don’t think Will violated it in the thread in question. His comment was relevant to someone suggesting that an ex-president could be quietly silenced by the state. \*\*wolfpup \*\*has it right in post#14. The thread is talking about unauthorized disclosure of classified information. WillFarnaby makes the handoff to “anti-state speech”. This isn’t a thread about anti-state speech. Will also introduces the idea of whistleblowing, but that’s not what the thread is about either. This is compounded by introducing Manning, Snowden, Binney, etc. None of these are related to dementia causing unauthorized disclosure of classified information. This is clearly violative of the previous instructions. When the instructions were given, WillFarnaby indicated that he had no intention of changing behavior: > [@Bone issues “Notice”- stop being libertarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bone-issues-notice-stop-being-libertarian/836705/1): > > What he seems to be doing is also forbidding me from addressing topics using an anti-authoritarian or anti-statist framework. If this is the case, he may as well commence with the banning, because I have no intention of addressing topics in any other way. That’s not a good recipe for being a member in good standing. But the thing that pushed this over the line from a warning to a temp suspension pending further discussion is Will’s attempt to take pot shots in response. Previously he referred to me as a kind of token conservative, or a pet of some kind: > [@Really Bone?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-bone/825306/1): > > Yes I understand the desire to be patted on the head by leftists as an approved conservative like Max Boot or Bill Kristol. > > That is some petty stuff, bud. Then, in the recent example, similar: > [@Hypothetically, what if an ex-President loses it and starts spilling state secrets?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-what-if-an-ex-president-loses-it-and-starts-spilling-state-secrets/841989/25): > > _The Pet Strikes Back_ This last one would have received a warning by itself but I suspended him instead. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/17 "2019-10-21T20:12:08Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > But folks should notice that my post was agreeing with his prior post, in which he was incredulous that the Government would use extra-judicial means to silence a former President. I agreed with that… Yes, I would have been better to quote Flyer’s prior post, before your comment and before Will said anything: > [@Hypothetically, what if an ex-President loses it and starts spilling state secrets?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-what-if-an-ex-president-loses-it-and-starts-spilling-state-secrets/841989/4): > > …Congress has the option of getting involved. They could appropriate money to build a nice, secure, one-occupant nursing home. Whether they would depends on the situation. So the issue of extra-judicial silencing was introduced by somebody else, and it’s in GD, not GQ. Seems like a pretty subjective call to me to say definitively that Will’s post was irrelevant and ding him straight out with a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/18 "2019-10-22T04:07:00Z")
The unauthorized releasing of classified information is not that big a stretch to anti-state speech. Presumably the classified info could be state secrets. But the insult of Bone after the warning is not ok in any way, and in-and-of itself sufficient for the consequences under discussion, imo, and about the farthest thing from equivalent to an add-on resisting arrest charge. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/19 "2019-10-22T06:46:26Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > I would hope the Powers That Be will rescind this suspension and remove **Bone** as a Mod immediately I think you have[your reply](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=884007). Personally, I think that’s great modding. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/20 "2019-10-22T14:00:57Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Personally, I think that’s great modding. Being against freedom of speech is an odd take for a self-proclaimed anarchist. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092.md?page=2)