# 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:** 6
**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 23, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/101 "2019-10-23T16:16:13Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Okay, how about nightclubs that ban as “disruptive” fashion choices that technically anyone can avail themselves of, but which are very disproportionately chosen by black people? That’s A-OK with you? What does that have to do with the topic at hand? The topic, in case you’ve forgotten, is about someone who is so obsessive about a particular set of ideological beliefs that he injects them into virtually every thread he participates in, even if it has little or nothing to do with the topic. This is classic threadshitting, and persistent and habitual threadshitting is a problem. And to be clear, it’s a problem that has nothing to do with whether one agrees with the ideology or not. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/102 "2019-10-23T16:20:13Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Are you using your own definition of “private”, as well? If the Hollywood studios who blacklisted communist screenwriters were not private entities, I don’t know how this board can qualify. ---
**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 23, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/103 "2019-10-23T16:21:15Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Or **handy** , [who was banned for for posting medial “advice” after being told not to](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4272226#post4272226). This isn’t new, folks. Or **septimus** , who is currently under [the same sort of topic-specific moderator instruction](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21932846&postcount=1362) **Will** was, and who is now actively trying to comply with it (admittedly in a rather over-the-top fashion) to avoid getting banned. ---
**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 23, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/104 "2019-10-23T16:21:30Z")
I’m in the minority who would have preferred Will wasn’t banned, but I’m frankly a bit embarrassed that the people who agree with me about the outcome are presenting such terrible arguments. Anyone who is aware of Will’s posting habits to _any_ degree can see that it’s ridiculous to argue that some fundamental absolute principle was violated here. Freedom of speech is never absolute in any context. In the context of a messageboard, there must always be a line drawn _somewhere_ between your right to speak about what you want to speak about, and the right of others to conduct _their_ conversation without constant disruption. I might have preferred a different judgment call here, but that’s all it was - a judgment call. And it was close enough to a marginal case that I have no problem respecting the fact that Bone (and the other mods, since I’m sure this was discussed) made their decision the way they did. Again, if you have any knowledge of Will’s _style_ of posting, claiming without evidence that this was biased silencing of a minority viewpoint is ludicrous. ---
**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 23, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/105 "2019-10-23T16:22:35Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Projection much? Are you ever going to actually cite where Will introduced a libertarian ideology into a completely random topic like “the weather”? Or do you keep making these vague remarks because you don’t have any such evidence? It certainly is not true about the topic that incited his final warnings. First - the instruction he violated wasn’t about introducing libertarian ideology. I do my best to make instruction discreet and specific so it is more easily understood. There have actually been many times where I want to give some instruction, but I can’t figure out a way to phrase it to make it specific enough to be enforceable to I leave it alone. Second - see post #16: > [@Bone](#): > > \*\*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. Are you saying that a hypothetical ex-president with dementia revealing classified information is equivalent to exercising anti-state speech? And somehow Ed Snowden is relevant? I mean, given the stretches you’re making here trying to relate what appear to be wildly unrelated subjects I can understand why you think what Will offered was related, but it really wasn’t. If he was unable to understand actual thread topics, pushing the limits wasn’t a good idea. So my threshold questions to you are the same to Steophan in post #91. Would you care to address them? ---
**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 23, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/106 "2019-10-23T16:24:15Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If the Hollywood studios who blacklisted communist screenwriters were not private entities, I don’t know how this board can qualify. Errm, do you think they just \*magically \*blacklisted them out of their own fierce patriotism? I repeat: what was McCarthy’s job? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/107 "2019-10-23T16:37:19Z")
McCarthy_ism_ was not necessarily about government actions. But call it the “Red Scare” if that will shake off your irrelevant pedantic objections. Although you can probably think of others that are even less relevant. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/108 "2019-10-23T16:40:01Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If the Hollywood studios who blacklisted communist screenwriters were not private entities, I don’t know how this board can qualify. Do you have any reason to believe that the SDMB mods reached out to other messagebaords and told them not to allow WF to post? ---
**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 23, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/109 "2019-10-23T16:41:15Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > McCarthy_ism_ was not necessarily about government actions. So, what was **McCarthy** ’s job? Nice dodge on the “necessarily” weasel word, BTW! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/110 "2019-10-23T17:00:40Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > \*\*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 a transparent pretext to get rid of someone you don’t like. The same “violation” occurs all over this board, but people don’t get in trouble for it if they are not disliked. Here’s a moderator going wildly off-topic: > [@We Have Betrayed the Kurds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-have-betrayed-the-kurds/841420/447): > > I hesitated to ask this, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me. **How is the Democratic Party’s platform (not “agenda”; it’s a party platform) “generally destructive to the country”?** > > Be specific and, as this is Great Debates, feel free to actually bolster your specifics with some kind of substantiation. I await your tortured explanation as to how this is on topic to debate the issue of whether we have or have not betrayed the Kurds. (Spoiler: we have.) A couple more examples I found with just a quick perusal of GD: > [@If that's not an emolument, I don't know what is](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-thats-not-an-emolument-i-dont-know-what-is/841919/81): > > Gerrymandering is part of the problem, but there’s no saving ourselves from ourselves. (Topic: emoluments) > [@Obamacare](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamacare/841364/80): > > They’re nothing but parasites, pure and simple. Gross, low, reprehensible parasites. > > Fuck 'em. That’s what I think about the insurance industry. And I’m far from the only one. (Topic: whether Obamacare can or cannot be termed a failure 9 years later) ---
**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 23, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/111 "2019-10-23T17:05:01Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is a transparent pretext to get rid of someone you don’t like. The same “violation” occurs all over this board, but people don’t get in trouble for it if they are not disliked. Or,\* just maybe\*, because they don’t make a habit of doing it? Did you report any of those off-topic posts, BTW? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/112 "2019-10-23T17:05:34Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is a transparent pretext to get rid of someone you don’t like. The same “violation” occurs all over this board, but people don’t get in trouble for it if they are not disliked. Here’s a moderator going wildly off-topic: I don’t see a moderator in that quote. > [@](#): > > I await your tortured explanation as to how this is on topic to debate the issue of whether we have or have not betrayed the Kurds. (Spoiler: we have.) Monty did not keep going on and on about the topic, in fact, it spawned its own thread. Had he continues to hijack that thread, then he probably would have gotten a note. > [@](#): > > A couple more examples I found with just a quick perusal of GD: > > (Topic: emoluments) > > (Topic: whether Obamacare can or cannot be termed a failure 9 years later) And do those posters have a history of injecting those topics into every thread that they are a part of? If so, then I would agree that there should be consistency, and they be told not to. If that is not their habit, then your example, once again, fails to have any similarity to the topic in question. ---
**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 23, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/113 "2019-10-23T17:18:00Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is a transparent pretext to get rid of someone you don’t like. The same “violation” occurs all over this board, but people don’t get in trouble for it if they are not disliked. Here’s a moderator going wildly off-topic: Monty is not a moderator. This was post #447 in a long running thread. If you notice, I responded in post #449 and instructed that that post was off topic and to start another thread if desired. If Monty refused and continued on that topic in that thread, escalation in moderation would have occurred. > [@](#): > > A couple more examples I found with just a quick perusal of GD: > > (Topic: emoluments) This thread is talking about emoluments and organically moved towards other constitutional rules. Going further, the relationship between the ability to enforce constitutional restrictions, what happens when enforcement is difficult for various reasons, and then speculations about why enforcement is difficult. This lead to the comment you quoted, about gerrymandering. Not directly on topic for emoluments, but an organic enough flow that there’s no need to step in. > [@](#): > > (Topic: whether Obamacare can or cannot be termed a failure 9 years later) This is basically a general Obamacare thread. There are tons of angles that are germane. The practicality and impact to existing insurance industry structures due to changes in health care administration and distribution is certainly relevant. Expressing sentiment regarding said insurance companies is also an organic flow of that discussion. None of these were reported either, including the first one which I did actually moderate. But going back to whether something is a pretext to get rid of someone - we can get rid of someone anytime. There’s literally tons of people I don’t like, yet they are still here. Maybe we’re just super patient and biding our time. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/114 "2019-10-23T17:18:06Z")
If I did a careful study of individual posters, I’m sure I could find ones who inject their particular left-wing hobbyhorse into threads where it is only tangentially related. But that doesn’t rub very many people the wrong way, so it isn’t noted or warned, and it certainly does not end up getting them banned. ---
**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 23, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/115 "2019-10-23T17:20:48Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If I did a careful study of individual posters, I’m sure I could find ones who inject their particular left-wing hobbyhorse into threads where it is only tangentially related. But that doesn’t rub very many people the wrong way, so it isn’t noted or warned, and it certainly does not end up getting them banned. There is no argument more powerful and effective than “I _could_ provide evidence to support my point, but you would only…” :rolleyes: ---
**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 23, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/116 "2019-10-23T17:23:02Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If I did a careful study of individual posters, I’m sure I could find ones who inject their particular left-wing hobbyhorse into threads where it is only tangentially related. You didn’t need to \*stalk \*\*\*Will \*\*to know what his major malfunction was. Find a left-wing poster who does it so openly and unrepentantly, and remains unmodded, I dare you. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/117 "2019-10-23T17:24:37Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > But going back to whether something is a pretext to get rid of someone - we can get rid of someone anytime. There’s literally tons of people I don’t like, yet they are still here. Maybe we’re just super patient and biding our time. Oh, I have absolutely zero doubt that you are patiently working on building up to it with me, starting with ticky-tack fouls so you can later claim that there have been X number within Y length of time. If I magically had access to your PMs, I am confident they would show a massive number of people screaming at you to get rid of me, and assurances from you that you are working on it but that I am cagey so it will therefore take some time. ---
**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 23, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/118 "2019-10-23T17:26:07Z")
Why, that doesn’t sound like a conspiracy theory at all… ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/119 "2019-10-23T17:27:21Z")
I don’t think **Bone** likes me very much, and yet somehow I have no fear of being targeted for a ban. Of course, I don’t have a martyr complex. ---
**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 23, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092/120 "2019-10-23T17:28:07Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Oh, I have absolutely zero doubt that you are patiently working on building up to it with me, starting with ticky-tack fouls so you can later claim that there have been X number within Y length of time. If I magically had access to your PMs, I am confident they would show a massive number of people screaming at you to get rid of me, and assurances from you that you are working on it but that I am cagey so it will therefore take some time. This sounds a lot like an excuse for any future infractions: “See? I _told_ you they were out to get me!!!”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poster-warned-then-suspended-for-debating-in-great-debates/842092.md?page=7)