# Seeking rule clarification **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 23, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975 "2017-01-23T21:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/1 "2017-01-23T21:48:09Z")
Can I wish death on posters by including them in a general term (all Democrats, all liberals, all Trump supporters) and then claiming hyperbole if challenged? [Post which occasioned this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19942011&postcount=1) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/2 "2017-01-23T22:43:25Z")
Really, **Miller**? > [@To all Trump supporters](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-all-trump-supporters/777915/85): > > All Trump supporters includes his supporters on this board […] > > He’s wishing death on me and like-minded posters. Pit OPs are constantly wishing death and injury on generic groups of people who may well include members of these boards. Like [this OP who fantasizes about opening his car door to crash cyclists who pass car traffic on the right at a traffic light.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=649005) All of us Dopers who may occasionally ride up to a red light on the right side of stopped traffic have now been wished injury and possible death by **Klaatu**. Oh noes, the triggering! :eek: Moreover, if you’re any kind of an inconsiderate or unhelpful or selfish or greedy or domineering person in any way (and which Dopers would that **not** apply to at some time or other?), [**Gyrate** wants someone to “grind your face into the ground and force you to lick up that stinking trail of rancid shit you’ve left in your wake your entire life”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=82334). Crying baby? [**Freudian Slit** wants to strangle you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=549356). Might there be Dopers who were even remotely involved in [a particular news story about a prescription drug?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=60757) **black rabbit** hopes you suffer “a debilitating injury tomorrow, and you all get agonizing nerve damage”. Any Dopers who happen to be religious? [**mutantmoose** wants you executed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566782). **Miller** , I don’t see how a hyperbolic death wish on all Trump supporters is substantially different from a hyperbolic death wish on all religious people, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/3 "2017-01-23T22:58:40Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Can I wish death on posters by including them in a general term (all Democrats, all liberals, all Trump supporters) and then claiming hyperbole if challenged? > > [Post which occasioned this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19942011&postcount=1) Is the Monsieur upset that **Miller** didn’t slam the thread shut with more force when he closed it? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/4 "2017-01-23T23:57:41Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Can I wish death on posters by including them in a general term (all Democrats, all liberals, all Trump supporters) and then claiming hyperbole if challenged? > > … Well he did say Trump supporters, and it is Trump supporter season around these parts. Season runs for another year or two at least. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/5 "2017-01-24T00:03:15Z")
In the interest of full disclosure, I was the one (or one of…I don’t know if anyone else did) who reported that thread. I tried to allow for wiggle room, but when **octopus** made his observation about the posters on the left (one of which I happen to be) seemingly not getting hit with the same level of moderation for a similar offense than as the folks on the right, I felt like I kinda had to report it. I hate it when I agree with **octopus** (and other righties), but I felt that he made a valid point, and the least I could do was ask the powers-that-be to look at it for an impartial ruling. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/6 "2017-01-24T00:28:17Z")
I see the OP was posted about an hour before I closed the thread. I trust subsequent events have answered his question to his satisfaction, but I would note that, if you’re wondering why a moderator hasn’t taken action on a particular thread, the first question you should ask yourself is, “Have I reported it?” If the answer is “no,” maybe try that before starting an ATMB thread. Odds are good that the moderators for that particular forum just haven’t seen it yet. Moving on: > [@Kimstu](#): > > Pit OPs are constantly wishing death and injury on generic groups of people who may well include members of these boards. You say “constantly,” but I can’t help but note that you didn’t cite any thread more recent than 2012. Two of 'em are from 2001, which not only makes those threads legally able to drive, they’re also from almost a full decade before I was a mod. As I acknowledged in my mod note when I closed the thread, there’s a very broad grey area where the rule against wishing death on posters intersects with talking about groups that might have members on the board. On the one hand, we don’t want to shut down legitimate debates, like, “Should the US strengthen its military interventions in Syria?” on the grounds that it’s advocating for the deaths of any posters who happen to be in either the US military, or Syria. On the other hand, “People who post pro-Trump threads in the Election forum deserve to be shot,” which is pretty clearly an attempt to do an end-run around the “no wishing death” rule, and is not something we want to allow. That thread seemed closer to the latter than the former. > [@](#): > > **Miller** , I don’t see how a hyperbolic death wish on all Trump supporters is substantially different from a hyperbolic death wish on all religious people, for instance. One of the problems with generic arguments is that any two things start to sound similar when you scrub enough details off. What’s the difference between a hyperbolic death wish on all Trump supporters, and a hyperbolic death wish on all religious people? I’d say it’s the difference between this: > [@](#): > > The way I’m thinking this is that all of the religious people in the world should be executed. Now I’m aware that there are a lot of religious people in the world - probably the majority. So if the population of the world is 6 billion I would estimate that about maybe 5 billion of them have some sort of religious belief. > > So they would be the ones for the chop. And this: > [@](#): > > I hope that your children also get to see you die so I can laugh in their faces, after I spit in them and before I gouge their eyes out and fuck them in their eye sockets. That seems a fairly stark difference to me. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/7 "2017-01-24T00:39:07Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Is the Monsieur upset that **Miller** didn’t slam the thread shut with more force when he closed it? Actually Monsieur didn’t realize that it had been closed when he posted. Monsieur offers his sincere apologies to the Vinyl Turnip and will strive to be more alert in future. The whole point of starting this thread was to clarify whether killing Clintonistas would be treated in precisely the same manner as killing Trumpites. If it would then the matter is resolved. Posting on a board where the vast majority (all?) the moderators are dyed-in-the-wool liberals does sometimes make one question the neutrality of some decisions, although, to be fair, it is very rarely that I suspect bias may have played a part. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/8 "2017-01-24T02:54:21Z")
Ah, I see from **Miller** ’s comment when he locked the thread that the rule is that one must report a post before one is allowed to complain about it. Fair enough. I was unaware of the rule and as I came late to the thread my assumption was that it would already have been reported multiple times (in fact one of the posters before me said he had reported it). My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/9 "2017-01-24T03:22:21Z")
Well, you’re allowed to complain about anything you want. It’s just usually more productive to report. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/10 "2017-01-24T03:24:47Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Ah, I see from **Miller** ’s comment when he locked the thread that the rule is that one must report a post before one is allowed to complain about it. Fair enough. I was unaware of the rule and as I came late to the thread my assumption was that it would already have been reported multiple times (in fact one of the posters before me said he had reported it). My bad. **Miller** didn’t say it was a rule, but it seems like a pretty good idea. My first inclination when I see something iffy about a post or thread has always been to report it. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/11 "2017-01-24T03:26:37Z")
Even when you see that someone else has reported it already? It seems a little pointless to report it again. And thank you for the clarification, **Chronos**. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/12 "2017-01-24T04:16:26Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Even when you see that someone else has reported it already? It seems a little pointless to report it again. > > And thank you for the clarification, **Chronos**. The only time people state that they’ve reported a post is usually in the case of spam. Most times people don’t say that they’ve reported a post, so if I don’t see that they have, I assume I’m the first. Even if I’m not, the mods always appreciate getting reports. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/13 "2017-01-24T05:24:37Z")
Yes, that’s usually the case, but the poster before me in that thread wanted to explain why he as a liberal had reported the post. That’s how I knew it had already been reported and why I found it puzzling when I returned to the locked thread to find **Miller** chastising me for not reporting it before starting this thread. Whatever. No arguing with City Hall and it’s not a big deal anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/14 "2017-01-24T05:35:45Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Yes, that’s usually the case, but the poster before me in that thread wanted to explain why he as a liberal had reported the post. That’s how I knew it had already been reported and why I found it puzzling when I returned to the locked thread to find **Miller** chastising me for not reporting it before starting this thread. > > Whatever. No arguing with City Hall and it’s not a big deal anyway. Do you mean **Ulfreida’s** post? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19944156&postcount=84](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19944156&postcount=84) I see no mention of a report. > [@](#): > > Although I do not aspire to the grandiose hyperbole of the OP, I understand perfectly the emotion from which it sprang. Because I share it. > > I am a moderately calm, introverted person, but the things trump supporters manage to believe inspires an incoherent rage that surprises and disturbs me. I actually hate them with a pure and utterly violent hatred. I really do. I imagine grabbing heads and slamming them into concrete walls. While screaming at them. > > I so admire the millions of people who marched without a single incident of violence. We felt happy and unified and brave. I hope I feel that way again. > > So that’s one data point from a liberal cupcake. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/15 "2017-01-24T06:06:22Z")
Embarrassingly I can’t find it either. I clearly have my Pit threads mixed up because there definitely was a post in one thread with someone saying they were reporting something even though they were a liberal. This is what comes of posting in the middle of the night! Apologies to **Miller** , he was right to dress me down. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/16 "2017-01-24T06:11:42Z")
If it helps, in this thread, I said that I’m a liberal, and I reported that thread. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/17 "2017-01-24T06:25:36Z")
Aha. I see where there was confusion. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/18 "2017-01-24T08:48:05Z")
Thank you, **Superdude** , I thought I’d read it somewhere. Didn’t think to look in this thread. :smack: I’m afraid I’ll have to retract that apology, **Miller** , but no worries. The whole thing is no great matter. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/19 "2017-01-24T14:39:16Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Thank you, **Superdude** , I thought I’d read it somewhere. Didn’t think to look in this thread. :smack: > > I’m afraid I’ll have to retract that apology, **Miller** , but no worries. The whole thing is no great matter. IMO you need to retract your retraction and reinstate your apology. You’ve been trying to explain why you started this thread instead of reporting the other thread. You can’t justify that by noting that someone announced in this very thread that they reported it. That was obviously after you had already opened the thread, and wasn’t part of your rationale in opening it. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975/20 "2017-01-24T15:02:13Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > IMO you need to retract your retraction and reinstate your apology. > > You’ve been trying to explain why you started this thread instead of reporting the other thread. You can’t justify that by noting that someone announced in this very thread that they reported it. That was obviously after you had already opened the thread, and wasn’t part of your rationale in opening it. You’re quite right. I opened this thread on the assumption that the post had been reported not the certain knowledge. Apology reinstated. And if I retract again may the mods ban my ass for the sake of my own sanity. This is getting ridiculous. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-rule-clarification/777975.md?page=2)