# The non-offensive version of soulfrost's "Madam, I must protest" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 8, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913 "2011-08-08T04:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/21 "2011-08-08T04:57:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I was including **SoulFrost** in “everybody.” Exactly how does a long term member getting unfairly banned in the worst decision here since Czarcasm’s most recent blown call, which itself led to the worse policy decision since Cuntgate, work out well for **Soulfrost**? You flushed him down the toilet for no reason, like he was garbage, without even a warning. Every mod that supports this should be ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/22 "2011-08-08T05:03:43Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Frankly, I think the nonsense around that thread (disappearing it, banning **SoulFrost** , then undisappearing it, then locking it) reflects a lot worse on **TubaDiva** than **SoulFrost**. This has been a seriously unbelievable turn of events. No doubt. I got sucked into this thing late as I really could care less if we have avatars or not, but the inept moderation got my attention. This thing has given rise to six thread locks, five still active threads, three warnings, and a banning. All over whether or not people can discuss things in an IMHO poll thread if there is a current thread having the same discussion. What the living fuck? How did it get this far? It was **Czarcasm** and **TubaDiva** being overly heavy handed, dismissive, and not providing adequate answers to their rulings. **Czarcasm** was especially unpleasant in how he handled the [Bullshit modding](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=618900) thread. This is his second post when asked to explain himself: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m confused. Are we supposed to email you personally when a general warning goes up in an IMHO thread? Do you feel restricted because you weren’t given two different venues to say almost the exact same thing? It drips with sarcasm. The response is too dismissive and rude for any civil discussion to proceed. The take home point is this: none of this would have happened if **Czarcasm** wasn’t a mod. None of this. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/23 "2011-08-08T05:06:14Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > It drips with sarcasm. The response is too dismissive and rude for any civil discussion to proceed. Quite. Does the “don’t be a jerk” rule apply only to posters? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/24 "2011-08-08T05:11:56Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You flushed him down the toilet for no reason, like he was garbage, without even a warning. What was a warning supposed to accomplish here? We use warnings to remind people what the rules are. They’re usually for when people either don’t know the rules or forget them in the heat of the moment. Neither case applies when someone says upfront that he wants to be banned and then tries to make it happen. It’s about his behavior, not his worth as a human being. When someone does what **SoulFrost** did - get upset over some decision and insist he wants to be banned - we usually try to let the person cool down, and that’s what we tried to do here. Most of the time that works fine. People may lose their tempers with us for one reason or another, but most don’t actually want to be banned even if they say that’s what they want. Everybody who’s been here a while knows it. **SoulFrost** insisted he wanted out, and that abusive post tonight was worse than his previous posts, not better. Warning him to stop doing it was pointless. Whatever you may feel about the moderating of the avatar threads, you can’t fly off the handle and be abusive like that. We except people to act like adults and be semi-reasonable even when they think the mods blew it. I don’t think I have to explain why that thread falls a wee bit short of that standard. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/25 "2011-08-08T05:13:46Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > The take home point is this: none of this would have happened if **Czarcasm** wasn’t a mod. None of this. I don’t get the **Czarcasm** hate; I really don’t. _Shrug_ Maybe he’s had a long string of questionable calls that I’ve been blissfully unaware of.. Like I said in the other thread, I think he was wrong here, but we ought to be able to survive having a single mod make a bad call. Something more systemic is the problem here. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/26 "2011-08-08T05:15:31Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > I don’t get the **Czarcasm** hate; I really don’t. _Shrug_ Maybe he’s had a long string of questionable calls that I’ve been blissfully unaware of.. Like I said in the other thread, I think he was wrong here, but we ought to be able to survive having a single mod make a bad call. Something more systemic is the problem here. To be fair, that “bad call” actually encompassed several. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/27 "2011-08-08T05:15:42Z")
You just know how this whole happy debacle is going to end, with polls being disabled, _and_ then held up as an example of “Why We Can’t Have Avatars”. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/28 "2011-08-08T05:17:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What was a warning supposed to accomplish here? Cooling off time. Obviously. > [@](#): > > that abusive post tonight was worse than his previous posts, not better. Seriously? Worse than the one wherein he called everyone a cunt in obvious full knowledge about the (still stupid) rule about that word? Dude, it’s ok. Everyone’s wound up a bit now. Bow out of this thread. Take a couple days. Then discuss it with a little distance and perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/29 "2011-08-08T05:19:43Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > To be fair, that “bad call” actually encompassed several. Understood, but I’m content seeing this all as a single event where he made a blunder. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/30 "2011-08-08T05:20:59Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > _and_ then held up as an example of “Why We Can’t Have Avatars”. At least some good will come out of it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/31 "2011-08-08T05:29:09Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Cooling off time. Obviously. He had plenty of time to cool off. That first post about demanding a ban was from 2 a.m. Saturday. Nobody hurried to ban him or even to confront him about what he said. > [@](#): > > Worse than the one wherein he called everyone a cunt in obvious full knowledge about the (still stupid) rule about that word? Yes. Doing something two or three times is worse than doing it once, and a long abusive rant is worse than one post where you sorta kinda hint at saying some stuff that’s against the rules but don’t quite say it. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/32 "2011-08-08T05:39:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He had plenty of time to cool off. That first post about demanding a ban was from 2 a.m. Saturday. Nobody hurried to ban him or even to confront him about what he said. It’s not even the end of the weekend yet. I guess your idea of plenty of time to cool off is different than mine. But you asked what the purpose of a suspension would be, and I told you. > [@](#): > > Yes. Doing something two or three times is worse than doing it once, and a long abusive rant is worse than one post where you sorta kinda hint at saying some stuff that’s against the rules but don’t quite say it. You’re talking about [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14113128&postcount=1)? What exactly in that broke board rules, and once you identify the couple of borderline cases of insulting people that are really nothing more than calling peoples’ actions stupid, what’s the precedent for that leading to a banning without any warning or suspensions first? Especially of a longstanding member of the community? Actually, you know what? Never mind. I think you’re being irrational and petty here, and it’s pissing me off. So I’m taking a step away from this and related threads for a couple days, and I reiterate my suggestion that you do, too. It’d be nice if you revisited when you’re thinking straight, but I won’t hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/33 "2011-08-08T05:40:16Z")
Oh, [the irony](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14101973#post14101973). From the bullshit modding thread: > [@SoulFrost](#): > > That’s how I’d want to handle it, too, but off-the-cuff decision making is what started this whole thing. Have some patience, let cooler heads prevail. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/34 "2011-08-08T05:41:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Nobody hurried to ban him or even to confront him about what he said. Which was a good move. The first in a long line of terrible ones, and since followed by more god-awful choices, but a good one nonetheless. Or so I thought–perhaps the complete lack of any response at all (which seems to be a running theme as of late) further compounded the issue. > [@Marley23](#): > > Yes. Doing something two or three times is worse than doing it once, and a long abusive rant is worse than one post where you sorta kinda hint at saying some stuff that’s against the rules but don’t quite say it He still should have been warned/suspended first. He was not asking to be banned in the thread that resulted in such an action, so why his request is just now being honored is beyond me. Particularly as you’ve made it clear he was in an especially bad mood when he made the original ‘banning’ post. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/35 "2011-08-08T05:51:35Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > What exactly in that broke board rules I’m going to assume you’re kidding rather than pick out the abusive comments in that post. They’re not hard to find. > [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > He was not asking to be banned in the thread that resulted in such an action, so why his request is just now being honored is beyond me. We’re not belatedly honoring his request. When he said “ban me,” we figured he was venting and let it alone. Since he repeated that behavior with the ‘since nobody’s banned me yet’ post and took it further with that new thread, we came to the conclusion that unfortunately, he was going to continue being a jerk until he got his way. So he’s banned now. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/36 "2011-08-08T06:02:17Z")
The thing that’s really pissing me off is you’re putting all the blame on **Soulfrost.** Mods fucked up here. Czarcasm in particular fucked up yet again…in the same way he’s fucked up so many times before. Tuba fucked up, too, with that snotty, condescending “resolution” post. You’re refusing to acknowledge any mistake, any error, any lapse of judgment on the part of the mods—and this whole mess is the fault of one horrible mod, with everyone else covering for him. Mods are not perfect. In this instance, the modding was pathetic. At least own up to the fact that mistakes were made. And reach out to Soulfrost, apologize, and offer to reinstate him. He may well invite you to kiss his ass, but you need to do the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/37 "2011-08-08T06:09:54Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > The thing that’s really pissing me off is you’re putting all the blame on **Soulfrost.** This is a board for adults, and we don’t accept “he started it” or “they made me do it” as an excuse. Them’s the breaks. Thinking that **Czarcasm** made the wrong decision does not give everybody license to break other rules. That’s still true even if you think the rest of the staff screwed up. You still have to follow the rules while posting here, including when you’re telling us we blew it. Nobody made **SoulFrost** demand to be banned, and nobody made him follow up on it by becoming more abusive in that last thread. That was his decision. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/38 "2011-08-08T06:13:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This is a board for adults, and we don’t accept “he started it” or “they made me do it” as an excuse. Them’s the breaks. Thinking that **Czarcasm** made the wrong decision does not give everybody license to break other rules. That’s still true even if you think the rest of the staff screwed up. You still have to follow the rules while posting here, including when you’re telling us we blew it. Nobody made **SoulFrost** demand to be banned, and nobody made him follow up on it by becoming more abusive in that last thread. That was his decision. :rolleyes: That’s right. Mods can do no wrong. Protect your own at all costs. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/39 "2011-08-08T06:18:40Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > That’s right. Mods can do no wrong. Protect your own at all costs. Unfortunately that bears no resemblance to what I said. I think everybody on staff has rescinded more than one decision along the way (except maybe the new guys). We get stuff wrong sometimes. You still have to follow basic rules like “don’t be a jerk” while saying so. So saying **Czarcasm** got it wrong or the rest of the staff got it wrong doesn’t excuse anything. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913/40 "2011-08-08T06:49:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This is a board for adults, and we don’t accept “he started it” or “they made me do it” as an excuse. Them’s the breaks. The irony here is hilarious. And everyone thinks I’m the nutty one when I say mods should just stick to moving threads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-non-offensive-version-of-soulfrosts-madam-i-must-protest/591913.md?page=3)