# Spectre of Pithecanthropus, don't you have something better to do? Chair a PTA meeting, maybe?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [June 7, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664 "2011-06-07T20:58:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/1 "2011-06-07T20:58:55Z")
From [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611216) about Sarah Palin’s interpretation of Paul Revere.
Talking about Palin, **astro** said:
> [@Sarah Palin: Paul Revere warned the British](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-paul-revere-warned-the-british/584369/10):
>
> God… she is stupid, but so \*\*\*\*able.
Then **Cicero** responded:
> [@Sarah Palin: Paul Revere warned the British](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-paul-revere-warned-the-british/584369/18):
>
> What on earth could you talk about later?
**An Arky** chimed in:
> [@Sarah Palin: Paul Revere warned the British](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-paul-revere-warned-the-british/584369/24):
>
> Simple; leave the ball gag in her mouth.
And **runner pat** finished it off with:
> [@Sarah Palin: Paul Revere warned the British](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-paul-revere-warned-the-british/584369/26):
>
> And the butt plug so she can’t talk out her ass.
Then everyone forgot about it and moved on, focusing on more general aspects of Palin’s stupidity.
But then, _more than 48 hours later_, **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** decides to weigh in on the issue, quoting **An Arky** and **runner pat** ’s posts and saying:
> [@Sarah Palin: Paul Revere warned the British](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-paul-revere-warned-the-british/584369/85):
>
> Both of you cool it, will you? I understand the motivation–I really do. But this is a little bit over the top for the context.
>
> No warnings issued.
No warnings issued?
Damn right “no warnings issued,” because no rules were broken. There were no personal insults against other Dopers, no-one was trolling, no-one was being a jerk, and no-one was posting as a sock. If the somewhat vulgar nature of the commentary offends your sensibilities, i suggest you get over it, because nothing in those posts were out of line for this board.
---
### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/2 "2011-06-07T21:31:04Z")
It’s SOP.
_Nelson laugh_
Can you prove Sarah Palin isn’t a member here? No? MAYBE you shouldn’t be making fun of her.
Hey, I’m just asking questions.
---
### Author:  [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/3 "2011-06-07T21:53:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> From [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611216) about Sarah Palin’s interpretation of Paul Revere.
>
> Talking about Palin, **astro** said:Then **Cicero** responded: **An Arky** chimed in:And **runner pat** finished it off with:
> Then everyone forgot about it and moved on, focusing on more general aspects of Palin’s stupidity.
>
> But then, _more than 48 hours later_, **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** decides to weigh in on the issue, quoting **An Arky** and **runner pat** ’s posts and saying:No warnings issued?
>
> Damn right “no warnings issued,” because no rules were broken. There were no personal insults against other Dopers, no-one was trolling, no-one was being a jerk, and no-one was posting as a sock. If the somewhat vulgar nature of the commentary offends your sensibilities, i suggest you get over it, because nothing in those posts were out of line for this board.
Some people would like to be able to discuss current events and political personalities _without_ being treated to an extended sojourn through the sexual fantasies of the creepier quarters of the SDMB membership. Considering that there are at least a few on here who think the rest of us are continually amused by hackneyed expressions of their libido (“Oh wow! You like to fuck hot chicks?!? Who’d have guessed! What an exciting revelation!”), I don’t mind **SoP** ’s insistence on sticking to the topic of thread, which rule, incidentally, is not an innovation.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/4 "2011-06-07T21:56:13Z")
When the OP is a “that’s what she said” joke, I don’t think your argument has much merit, Kimmy.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/5 "2011-06-07T22:06:32Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> When the OP is a “that’s what she said” joke, I don’t think your argument has much merit, Kimmy.
Yeah, that’s the thing.
Had the conversation been in GD, or even had it been a more serious and involved discussion in MPSIMS, i wouldn’t have had a problem with a mod instruction to keep things on topic. But the whole thread is basically a “Look how dumb Sarah Palin is” thread. While the pieces i quoted in the OP aren’t exactly highbrow humor, and i basically skipped right past them myself, they didn’t exactly lower the tone of the thread very much.
Also, as i noted in the OP, **SoP** ’s intervention came more than 48 hours after everyone in the thread had forgotten about those comments and moved on. The mod intervention actually had the effect of resurrecting a problem that had already been rendered moot by the passage of time and the flow of the conversation.
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### Author:  [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/6 "2011-06-07T23:48:10Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#):
>
> Some people would like to be able to discuss current events and political personalities _without_ being treated to an extended sojourn through the sexual fantasies of the creepier quarters of the SDMB membership.
Then you should start a thread of that nature and stop reading the “XXX is so stoopid” threads. 'Cause the thread mentioned in the OP ain’t exactly a ‘current events’ kind of thread.
And, what’s so creepy about ball gags and butt plugs?
😉
.
---
### Author:  [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/7 "2011-06-08T13:52:59Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> When the OP is a “that’s what she said” joke, I don’t think your argument has much merit, Kimmy.
That doesn’t read as a “that’s what she said” joke. There’s no sexual connotation or twist. It’s a simple statement that reiterates that Sarah Palin said something stupid.
Not every instance of the phrase “that’s what she said” is a sex joke. Sometimes it’s just an innocent phrase. Like here.
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### Author:  [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/8 "2011-06-08T14:10:55Z")
> [@PlainJain](#):
>
> . . .
> And, what’s so creepy about ball gags and butt plugs?
> 😉
> .
Get them crossed up when using them and I imagine it’d be pretty creepy.
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### Author:  [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/9 "2011-06-08T14:18:38Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> But then, _more than 48 hours later_, **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** decides to weigh in on the issue, quoting **An Arky** and **runner pat** ’s posts and saying:No warnings issued?
Is it not more likely that some weenie reported the exchange, and because it was reported, Spectre decided as a mod to respond to the report and make a simple note. Hardly worth knotting panties over.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/10 "2011-06-08T14:28:23Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#):
>
> Spectre decided as a mod to respond to the report and make a simple note. Hardly worth knotting panties over.
It’d have been far easier for Spectre to, as a mod, not respond to the report and not make a simple note, because there was nothing wrong about those posts. Just because some weenie got offended isn’t reason enough. We could do with a lot less panty knotting and weenie coddling around here.
What’s next, getting offended at lame siamese twin jokes?
---
### Author:  [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/11 "2011-06-08T20:22:36Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> It’d have been far easier for Spectre to, as a mod, not respond to the report and not make a simple note, because there was nothing wrong about those posts. Just because some weenie got offended isn’t reason enough. We could do with a lot less panty knotting and weenie coddling around here.
>
> What’s next, getting offended at lame siamese twin jokes?
And if he had ignored the report there would probably be somebody in here complaining about mods ignoring reports. Instead, he acted on the report, and he has somebody in here complaining about acting on the report. Perhaps a few more people should become actively involved in a PTA.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/12 "2011-06-08T20:52:29Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#):
>
> And if he had ignored the report there would probably be somebody in here complaining about mods ignoring reports. Instead, he acted on the report, and he has somebody in here complaining about acting on the report. Perhaps a few more people should become actively involved in a PTA.
What a silly argument.
First, we don’t even know that someone reported it.
Second, mods ignore reports all the time. The issue isn’t (or shouldn’t be) “It was reported.” The issue is (or should be) “Was the mod’s intervention necessary and appropriate?”
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/13 "2011-06-08T21:26:36Z")
I love the idea that someone reported **runner pat**!
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/14 "2011-06-08T21:41:16Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#):
>
> And if he had ignored the report there would probably be somebody in here complaining about mods ignoring reports.
No we wouldn’t. Posts/Threads get reported all the time that the mods don’t act on. It’s been only on clear violations where the mods don’t act does someone ask why reports aren’t being followed up on. I bet it doesn’t happen more than once a month that someone starts a thread like that.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/15 "2011-06-08T23:37:08Z")
Yeah, at a minimum there should be a better explanation for the mod note. No sexy talk? That’s half of what we Weiners do here!
Oh, and what do you mean no warning issued? Wasn’t he warning the British?
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/16 "2011-06-09T14:19:49Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> It’d have been far easier for Spectre to, as a mod, not respond to the report and not make a simple note, because there was nothing wrong about those posts. Just because some weenie got offended isn’t reason enough. We could do with a lot less panty knotting and weenie coddling around here.
>
> What’s next, getting offended at lame siamese twin jokes?
Given that it was just mod direction and not any kind of warning, are you addressing the "less panty knotting"comment at the OP?
---
### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/17 "2011-06-09T16:22:54Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> Given that it was just mod direction and not any kind of warning, are you addressing the "less panty knotting"comment at the OP?
No, at Spectre obviously. His post had no purpose other than to say, “my delicate sensibilities are being offended, and these posts you’re making - while completely within the rules of this board - should be tempered to meet my puritanical expectations”. He’s welcome to communicate that, as is anyone else on this board. Why he felt the need to make it a mod direction is beyond me.
Honestly folks, if you’re offended by something within the rules of the board, just say so. People will tone it down if you’re reasonable. There’s simply no need to tell the teacher and have them mediate a non-issue. They have better things to do with their time.
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/18 "2011-06-09T16:47:06Z")
With all due respect, **Munch** , it seems to me that you’re so bored that you have to invent things to bitch about.
Just something I’ve noticed in general.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/19 "2011-06-09T16:53:03Z")
We all have our hobbies.
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectre-of-pithecanthropus-dont-you-have-something-better-to-do-chair-a-pta-meeting-maybe/584664/20 "2011-06-10T01:45:25Z")
That **Runner Pat** must be a bad dude. I wasn’t aware I had even been caught up in something. My life is so dull. 🙂
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