Oakie nailed it.
I am also a long time poster, I am also aware of the rule about GQ jokes*.
With that said I would have been tempted to post the same joke at the same point in that thread just because it is expected in a thread that mentions Russia.
Seriously Sam lighten up. You overreacted. Admit it, it isn’t the end of the world to admit you went overboard.
*I think I was even spanked by a mod for this exact infraction once.
I’ve never been spanked by a mod. I guess I’ve never been naughty enough. 
Sam, you may have noted I disagreed with your action in the other thread. I’ve read through this thread.
I still disagree. I think you’ve made the wrong decision. Others also think you’ve made the wrong decision.
Making an over-used but inevitable and, IMHO, still mildly appropriate joke in GQ warrants nothing more than a “Don’t do it again” Mod Note, at least from what I’ve observed on the boards over the past few years.
A warning is manifestly excessive in this situation and you’ve been given an opportunity to say something along the lines of “Yeah, I over-reacted. On reflection, it’s been downgraded to a Mod Note. Next time I’d suggest you give people a chance to post some factual answers before being a smartarse.”
The fact you haven’t done this means that my respect for you has been severely (and negatively) affected.
Where do I sign up to become a mod?!
[spoiler]Aw, who am I kidding? I’d make a horrible mod. I’d flip a coin to determine my response to rule breakers and I’d reply to angry PMs with “fapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfap.” 
Wait a minute! I’d make a great mod![/spoiler]
I think at this point we just have to agree to disagree with sam. He’s right in that Hail Ants got :eek: a warning, and it will :eek: go on his permanent record, but so what? No one is banning him or even suspending him and there is little likelihood of that happening. The mods obviously have the discretion to issue warnings (or not) when rules are broken and they don’t guarantee an perfectly equal application of the warning/mod note system.
I would note that we’re not seeing the usual circling of the wagons from the other mods on this issue, and I’ll take that as an indication that while they don’t necessarily agree with the action, it’s just not the big deal that many of us posters seem to think it is.
I am embarrassed to confess that I wasn’t aware of this particular rule. Here it is, from the GQ sticky:
I had not read the 10 rule GQ sticky (my bad). But somehow I had sussed the other guidelines. Then again, I generally refrain from dropping pure one-liners because I don’t trust my comedic skills. It’s not a bad rule, lest GQ turn into Slashdot. Not that there’s anything wrong with Slashdot…
So when will we see warnings issued for posters who drop in an anecdote that doesn’t answer the question?
AFter a good night’s sleep, I’ve decided to change the warning to a mod note.
There we go. Good night’s sleep = not so much Mr. Crankypants.
Cool beans.
Fuck. I wanted to jump up and down, and piss in samclem’s Cheerios, and rant and rave for a little while.
Good for you samclem you made the right call.
You will have excuse me I have to go find a GQ thread to post a joke in.
::: ducks and runs:::
Well done.
hrm.
The level of butthurt in this thread is hilarious.
I hope they now start complaining about how unprofessional it is for mods to post when they are tired.
I agree, buckety. Allow me to quote Kurt Russell in the otherwise forgettable movie Overboard:
“You know what your problem is? You are so goddamn bored, you have to invent things to bitch about! You don’t have a single thing to do on this earth except for your hair! The closet was fine, you just needed something to fill up your useless, nail-polishing, toe-polishing, rich bitch, sun-tanning days!”
Good one, samclem. Thank you for reconsidering.
Seconded! And who’d have thunk…
Seeing that the rule against premature jokes is “buried” under the heading that pertains to attack, jabs, and trolling, I think the GQ mods should consider separating out the premature joke clause into its own heading.
Or eliminate it, since it’s kinda silly as rules go.
I agree. Years ago, I posted some stupid joke in GQ thread that wasn’t answered and was about to fall off the front page. The bump brought it back to the top and then it was answered. It wouldn’t have been answered if I didn’t make that stupid joke. Should I have been warned for that? Of course not. ( I wasn’t, by the way)
My take is for the mods to step in if the joke is a highjack, but if it isn’t, just let it go.