Yeah,
I generally totally kiss up to the mods 
but I think some formalities need to be spelled out and followed concerning cases like this. The slippery slope here starts to get just slightly too slippery for comfortable walking.
-FrL-
Huh, I just noticed.
It was a preemptive banning performed inside a preemptive pitting!
-FrL-
Because the decision had already been made, and Giraffe presumably didn’t feel like singlehandedly overriding it.
That’s a frightening train of logic, I agree. Except it isn’t what Giraffe actually said.
That thread got locked because the question was answered, not because it “can’t be discussed.”
Okay, that’s officially retarded.
Why?
Do I really need to explain to you why locking a thread which is in absolutely no danger of becoming problematic and which you freely admit concerns a valid topic for discussion is stupid? You sure you want to go there?
How could I stop you from enlightening us once again, even if I wanted to? No, you don’t need to explain: for one thing it’s already clear that not everybody’s questions were answered. For another, I don’t need you to explain anything, just as a general rule.
So, quit turning around, already. 
You may be surprised to know that it has been going precipitously downhill since long before you joined, lo those 22 long months ago. In my personal experience, it has been going downhill at an ever accelerating clip ever since I joined in 2000. And I am sure it was declining even before that, since it’s inception in 1999. And from what I understand, that was far inferior to the AOL board.
Stick around. I’m sure you’ll find that the quality will continue to decrease. It always does.
Man, though, you should have been here in 2000. It was like frikkin Willie Wonka’s back then.
The awesomeness of the AOL board has been exaggerated. It was already going downhill, or so I understand, when I first started posting to it in 1997.
Friggin’ Oompa Loompas everywhere.
Wolper or Burton?
The first day on the AOL board, as I understand it, was awesome!!! Everything since then has been a diminishing shadow of itself.
Disregarding the banning himself, the locking of the ATMB threads is a different story. ATMB threads get locked too early all the time. I have never understood that. In most cases, it is the newer mods desperate for the approval of their flame and being more popist that the Pope. This always results in a second thread where what was a simple question drags into the usual snipe-the-administration repeat-o-rama. Will they ever learn?
Except that it was not, as you yourself admitted 18 minutes later. When in doubt, don’t lock. It takes even less effort than locking. See? Just now while typing this, I didn’t lock the thread. And I was even drinking juice at the same time.
You may have meant this as a joke, but had it not been for that last sentence, it sounded much like a sad and serious assessment of what is going on.
Well…I didn’t actually mean to indicate that I feel this place is going downhill. The truth is, I love this board. But I do hate seeing interesting posters banned.
Samclem, very funny.
Amateur. I can not lock thread while juggling flaming tennis balls and reciting the three words ending with -gry. On a treadmill.
jessesheeran, last of the Oompa Loompas. It will be a long time before we see his like again.
Maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday.
Yes, granted. We’re a little too quick to assume people’s questions have been answered sometimes.
We almost saw his like twice last night. 
I find that browsing the SDMB involves somewhat less genital torture, but otherwise, yeah, our experience here is very much like Guantanamo.
You obviously haven’t tried to debate Scylla.