# tomndebb, allowing racist hate speech was a bullshit mod call **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632 "2015-08-12T06:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/221 "2015-08-16T18:57:36Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > No, it was I who argued self-defense. **Construct** never did. Nope. > [@Construct: Are you for real?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/construct-are-you-for-real/727501/119): > > Marxists have empirically shown that when they gain power, they have a tendency to kill their enemies. This has been proven in in the Soviet Union, in China, and in Cambodia. As someone who is certainly not a friend of Marxism, I have a vested interest in ensuring that Marxists don’t succeed. And I’d be better off it they were shot, because they’d do exactly the same to me. That is _ **Construct** _ arguing self defence. As for the ridiculous argument about what some historic Marxists regimes have done, it has no bearing - I’m personally a pacifist and I follow Marx’s teachings (not as much as I follow Proudhon’s, but I still count myself as a Marxist), so what have I personally done to deserve going up against the wall? What have the Marxist state governments in India done? Collective punishment is a war crime for a reason, but hey, advocate for it if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/222 "2015-08-17T00:27:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > One week is not “long after the fact”, especially when the issue is still under active discussion, as this has clearly been. > > But it seems the answer is yes, he will be given a pass. Actually one week is long after the fact, insofar as the conversation has moved on after that point. This isn’t a law court: it’s a message board. Tom is a moderator at a panel discussion, not a thought crime enforcer. If Construct behaves moving forwards, I see no reason for a banning. If he does not, he should receive notes and warnings. If posters wish to express their displeasure with posts made over a couple of days ago, they can do so in the pit. As a member, I advocate accountability (up to the point of harassment of course). **Calibration** More generally racism remains one of the great issues of the day. Provided this place isn’t inundated with trolls a certain level of unpleasantness is superior to none at all. Though admittedly that’s easier for this white hetero male to say. As an example, I might point to our discussions of the [Armenian Genocide](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=317466). Admittedly that thread lacked buffoonish commentary. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/223 "2015-08-17T01:42:32Z")
So the statute of limitations is, at most, 1 week. Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/224 "2015-08-17T03:53:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So the statute of limitations is, at most, 1 week. Good to know. No, It is whatever the whims of the moderator in question is. If they want to issue a warning, they will find a reason 6 months down the line. If they don’t, you will find an excuse a minute. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/225 "2015-08-17T05:27:53Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Actually one week is long after the fact, insofar as the conversation has moved on after that point. You mean this conversation, right here in this thread? Moved on? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/226 "2015-08-17T05:41:29Z")
Ok, ok, it’s been 5 days since Tom made the post referenced in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/227 "2015-08-17T05:47:46Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Ok, ok, it’s been 5 days since Tom made the post referenced in the OP. And has there been a pause in the conversation since? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/228 "2015-08-17T06:38:57Z")
Well, what’s the date of the last objectionable comment by Construct? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/229 "2015-08-17T08:07:20Z")
That’s irrelevant as to whether the conversation about it has moved on or not. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/230 "2015-08-17T12:46:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s irrelevant as to whether the conversation about it has moved on or not. If you’d let it go - it would move on - ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/231 "2015-08-17T13:40:55Z")
> [@simster](#): > > If you’d let it go - it would move on - Why _should_ I let it go? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/232 "2015-08-17T13:51:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why _should_ I let it go? The moderators have answered your question(s) as to why the post(s) were not moderated - you’ve stated why you feel this is in error and your dissatisfaction with it. Simply put - at this point you’re beating a dead horse and are not going to change the outcome. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/233 "2015-08-17T13:58:07Z")
> [@simster](#): > > The moderators have answered your question(s) as to why the post(s) were not moderated - you’ve stated why you feel this is in error and your dissatisfaction with it. I still haven’t had a mod say that yes, 5 days is long enough to get a pass. Only **MfM**. As for beating a dead horse - this is the forum for complaining about moderation, I’m complaining. My last complaint was after tom’s last reply to me, so I don’t consider my complaint answered yet. And when it is, I might have more to say about that response if the thread isn’t closed. So quite frankly, I don’t find any non-mod calls telling me to shut up all that helpful or welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/234 "2015-08-17T15:31:29Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So the statute of limitations is, at most, 1 week. Good to know. I was told by a mod, who is no longer here, saying they would not go back a mod a post that was two days old. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/235 "2015-08-17T18:14:01Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Simply put - at this point you’re beating a dead horse and are not going to change the outcome. He’s not trying to get outcomes changed - he’s trying to get straight answers to his questions. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/236 "2015-08-21T16:09:10Z")
I apologize coming in a few days late. But, since I’m the one who said you should Warn people if you expect them to change, I shall respond to this, too. > [@tomndebb](#): > > Is the point of handing out Warnings to see how many posters we can ban? Or is it to catch a poster’s attention to get him or her to behave? Neither. The first is a rather ridiculous strawman that you keep bringing up. **No one believes your goal is to try and ban people.** The second is, at best, incomplete and, at worst, a polite fiction. A Warning is essentially the board’s equivalent of an official reprimand at a job or a censure in politics. It’s a way of saying that your behavior is so out of line that it needs to be officially documented. This documentation is then what is used **should the need arise** as evidence that someone warrants a suspension or banning. Whenever you issue a suspension or banning, you always cite the Warnings that person has received. You don’t cite, for example, the times the poster was one of many who got a thread closed. You can’t, because those aren’t documented. An Official Warning is, like an official reprimand or censure, effectively a punishment in its own right. By not giving someone a Warning, you are effectively saying “we’ll let this one slide.” It’s not merely a means to catch the poster’s attention. You have PMs for that, should the need arise. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/237 "2015-08-21T17:55:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > A Warning is essentially the board’s equivalent of an official reprimand at a job or a censure in politics. It’s a way of saying that your behavior is so out of line that it needs to be officially documented. This documentation is then what is used **should the need arise** as evidence that someone warrants a suspension or banning. It has the latter utility, yes. But I disagree entirely about your view of the _purpose_ of Official Warnings[sup]tm[/sup]. An example: I registered in 1999. With some breaks, I’ve been posting in GD for nearly 16 years. I just received my first warning. I deserved it, because I broke the rules of the forum. It was, for me at least, an effective way to catch my attention and remind me to pay attention to my words. That it was made publicly also serves to remind others to pay attention to their words. If I go off the rails and get my ass banned, certainly that warning and any other I accumulate in the process will be offered as evidence that I was not booted without cause. But IMO that’s not the _purpose_ of a warning. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/238 "2015-08-21T18:00:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I apologize coming in a few days late. That is regrettable, but the important thing is that you’re here now. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/239 "2015-08-22T09:01:41Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I was told by a mod, who is no longer here, saying they would not go back a mod a post that was two days old. Well, **Idle Thoughts** just modded a 5 day old post. He gave a very sternly worded note to **Emiliana** in IMHO for calling this awesome dude I know an “asshole.” And I’m talking a whole mod note, not a quarter note, or a half note, but a whole note. So the statute is longer than 2 days, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632/240 "2015-08-22T09:17:42Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > At this point, in either case you would be trolling. Of course _ **I** _ would. Let me rephrase the question: a different poster, not me. “All those (ethnic slurs) in ISIS should be bombed and burned.” Is this ok? “All of ISIS should be bombed and burned.” Is this ok? Again, I’m not asking for myself, I’m asking if a DIFFERENT poster posted the above, would either, or both, be a rules violation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-allowing-racist-hate-speech-was-a-bullshit-mod-call/727632.md?page=13)