Now it would have been fair enough for Tom or another mod to have instructed Slacker to tone it down in Elections. Appropriate. Often mods have as that forum can very easily become Pit-lite rather than actual reasoned political debate.
OTOH a mod, Tom in this case, even wearing a poster’s hat, responding with “Bwahahahaha!” is the exact wrong input.
Snark is going to happen in Elections but a mod fanning the flames should simply not happen.
IMHO.
FWIW, while I agree with Tom on the quality of the OP in question, I never find “BWAHAHAHA” to be a useful contribution. Shit like that should leave GD and Elections forever.
Edit: I say this as a point of etiquette; I don’t at this point think it should be a rule. Folks who post “BWAHAHA” or otherwise indicate that they haven’t thought seriously and respectfully about their opponents’ positions in general don’t inspire me to think seriously or respectfully about what they say, nor do they convince me that their own input is likely to be serious.
Moderators should absolutely be allowed to post as a poster when they are not posting as a moderator. Tomndebb was not posting as a moderator in that post. If you, or anyone, feels that the post was inappropriate for the forum, you are free to report it, or to Pit him.
And so reported.
That’s a good point, because the only thing that tom posted was “Bwahahahaha!”. Oh wait, it was just the lead-in to why he thought it was funny. He’s a poster, like any other.
Is it permissible in GD and Elections to submit a response characterizing the assertions in a post as laughably wrong?
Serious question
That cop just smirked at me! POLICE BRUTALITY!!!
I am not a GD or Elections mod and I tend to not go there very often. Given that, I didn’t see anything that would make me even notice that post. I see nothing at all that would go against any rule.
If you have a problem with the fact that mods are allowed to post as normal posters your opinion is noted but I don’t see it changing.
I’ve seen it done many times, and I’ve never seen it moderated. But I can guarantee you the mods will not draw a bright line and say it never will.
I went to the thread expecting to see several posts from Tom and was a little surprised. One post as a normal (well – as much as any of us are normal) poster and this starts? OK, maybe it would have been more polite if he had said something like “I’m sorry but I find it funny” rather than “Bwahahahaha!” but ---- I’m just not seeing the big deal. Mods have gotten snarky, as a poster, on me once or twice. Maybe I’m the odd man out but I kind of like it; it shows them as being pretty much the same as the rest of us and not some sort of remote viewers only hanging around for the authority. But like with a lot of things in life, that could just be me.
It’s tough enough with the rules that we have. I can’t see that it makes sense to have a tighter set of rules for the mods. When they post, they are posters.
You consider that Pit-like? :dubious:
I doubt I’d give that a second look even in GQ, unless it was part of a escalating series of snarky remarks.
The response was inappropriate.
Tom added a little flavor to a reasonable response. If the thread was going out of control it might be worth a comment. I know others disagree, but I don’t see a problem with the Elections forum reflecting the level of political debate that occurs in the actual election. In that regard the forum is on the tame side for this cycle.
Nonsense. The whole thread is a Pit thread in Elections’ clothing. From the OP:
And you blame **Tomndebb **for the “Pit-like atmosphere”? :rolleyes:
mods thoughts matter!
ALL thoughts matter, you modist!
CMC fnord!
As long as “Drumpf” and :rolleyes: are allowed, “Bwahahaha” is completely in line with other means of dismissal.
Like “You buy into some really weird stuff.”
Or “that’s baloney.”
Or “Jesus christ, now he’s threatening? … Bravo, sir, bravo.”
Or “You are free to demean and debase yourself and the forum all you like.”
No, as I stated in my op I blame him as someone who knows better from contributing to what I see as an undesirable atmosphere for Eletions. Also there is well defined difference between posting about a politician derisively and treating another poster derisively.
Yes, the last was mine … when Tom … for lack of a better word … “threatened” that he would do the same to me … yes treating other posters with derision in Elections is debasing and demeaning yourself and the purpose of the forum and it only invites similar behavior back. I cannot claim that I am above taking the bait on occasion but to me “Bwahahaha!” in Elections is very much akin to attacking the poster and only serves to facilitate more personal attacks.
He’s just practicing his game, preparing himself to fill the long-vacant post of Fucking Hall Monitor. We need more of those!