[QUOTE=Colibri]
What question do you think I am begging? Whether **2.5 ** was trolling, or whether he was suspended because the administration is politically biased against right wing opinions?
[/QUOTE]
That your accusation that I don’t see his behavior as trolling, shows some failing on my part.
[QUOTE=Colibri]
My mistake. Frank expressed no disagreement with the assessment of trolldom in discussion, so I made the assumption that he agreed with it. I overlooked his post in this thread.
[/QUOTE]
No problem. I’ll ask then if every other mod weighed in on his alleged trolling. Did they? If not, the “at least” qualifier should precede the “one mod”.
[QUOTE=Colibri]
Are you or are you not claiming that we made the decision to suspend 2.5 on the basis of the political content of his threads? Please state clearly what your position is.
[/QUOTE]
This is getting tiresome. I’ve said, and am saying, it played a part. The same way that his extremism off the right end of the spectrum caused more of a commotion than if it were to the left. That you would deny this is amazing to me.
[QUOTE=Colibri]
Unless you can demonstrate that we make decisions on the basis of politics, this is, once again, irrelevant.
[/QUOTE]
Uh no, I am free to read the posts on this board and reach an opinion. I can then share that opinion. You are free to disregard that opinion. But from what I’ve posted in this thread, the facts as I have relayed them should at least give you pause. If not, not.
[QUOTE=Colibri]
So if we are NOT making decisions on the basis of our political orientation, what exactly is the problem?
[/QUOTE]
My point is that political orientation influences your (pl) decisions. It does not *dictate *your thinking and action as a mod, but plays a part in it.
While I very rarely participated in 2.5’s threads and thought some of them ridiculous, this notion that he is a troll is wishful thinking. His OPs, some of which I thought were, well, weird, surprisingly often got serious responses. People were engaged. He frustrated people. By both his extreme (right) position and the tenacity with which he held onto a position. To many of the usual suspects, this means, ergo, he is not debating honestly and is a troll.
The Ted Kennedy death thread was indicative, IMO obviously, of political favoritism. Yes, there was an explanation offered, but it read like complete bullshit to me. He made his point very well—and much more strongly with his OP than if it had been just a post in the Helms thread. It was a masterful OP to shed light on the bad taste of another.
[QUOTE=Colibri]
If anything, I deliberately try to err on the side of giving more leeway to posters who express views contrary to my own. I’m sure I have warned/cautioned many more posters for anti-conservative cracks in GQ than otherwise.
[/QUOTE]
Well, I commend you on your self-awareness and your efforts. This is not meant to be snarky, but maybe you can try harder. also, the number of times you’ve admonished posters from either side should fall along the lines you describe, shouldn’t they? Or are you of the mind that there are not more posts by people from the left than the right?
[QUOTE=Colibri]
If you want to try to demonstrate bias in my moderating against those who don’t share my views, it’s up to you to produce some actual evidence rather that insisting it must necessarily be true. The fact that you believe this says much more about your own blinkered viewpoint than it does about reality.
[/QUOTE]
And you go right on believing that if it makes you feel better. I don’t recall having an issue with you in the past. The only blow-up I recall with the mods is a repeated one with tomndebb, who I respect highly in most regards. My view of the mods in general, which includes you, were that they were generally bright, generally fair, but leaned to the left, just like the member group itself. Big surprise. And like people with any leaning, sometimes that bias revealed itself in their work. I’ve been a member for a couple of years and think I have a general sense of the SDMB. I will grant you that my leanings probably color how I see things, as well. But I take that into account as much as I can. In the end, I can choose to participate or not. I’ve considered quitting, and might. I have lessened my activity. Partially due to work and partially due to the same old shit.
One of the things that gets tiresome is that demanding of EVIDENCE. As if every position and opinion can be supported by pointing to some magic thing that will change everyone’s mind. You’ve done it here in your post. Not everything is a scientific proposition or an issue for a court of law. I’m happy to share my thinking as to why and how I might have arrived at a particular position, and oftentimes that is precisely what is called for. But many think that a cite proves their case.
Anyway, that more than you asked for, but there it is.
