# Why was Wildest Bill banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 19, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332 "2001-10-19T00:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/61 "2001-10-19T04:11:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > \*\*Hilarity, I tell you. Hilarity. \*\* Exactly! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/62 "2001-10-19T04:11:45Z")
But Andros, that’s just nitpicky semantics, dear. “The major factor” and “the reason” are the same thing in actual practice. But okay, I’ll start over. Izzy, if you’re not too busy with your pictograms, could you please go find me a cite that proves that “Being unpopular is a _major factor_ in getting a poster banned”. And **besides** Daniel~, because, as I’ve already made quite clear (although come to think of it, I used words, so maybe I should have used pictograms), the fact that some people didn’t like him was not a “major factor” in his banning. The fact that he was frequently a jerk was the “major factor” in his banning. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/63 "2001-10-19T04:15:01Z")
Dammit, I was going to mention **red\_dragon** in my last post… Is it possible that he got banned on accident or due to an error? I remember that someone ( **water2j** maybe?) got temporarily banned because some smartass used his e-mail addy when registering. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/64 "2001-10-19T04:26:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **But Andros, that’s just nitpicky semantics, dear. “The major factor” and “the reason” are the same thing in actual practice.** He didn’t say “the major factor.” He said **A** major factor, which as you know quite well has a very different meaning. It’s YOU who are using semantics to twist what he’s saying. A word here and there can substantially change meaning. > [@](#): > > \*\*And **besides** Daniel~, because, as I’ve already made quite clear (although come to think of it, I used words, so maybe I should have used pictograms), the fact that some people didn’t like him was not a “major factor” in his banning. The fact that he was frequently a jerk was the “major factor” in his banning. \*\* The subjective call that someone is “a jerk” is no different from saying he was unpopular. It’s an open fact that one’s popularity, reputation and history is taken into account in terms of when the mods do and don’t take action, as well they should. Wildest Bill rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and I’m quite certain that greased the skids. A more popular poster could get away with GQ questions FAR worse than what he was apparently banned for. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; this is a community, after all, and if the Reader’s appointed mods want to make calls based on what them preponderance of users want, that makes sense to me. (I should note, for the sake of full disclosure, that I’m very disappointed he was banned. But it isn’t my call or my MB.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/65 "2001-10-19T04:29:54Z")
Actually, **Goose, Izzy** , the two ideas aren’t necessarily in conflict. Most Dopers don’t like Jerks (for whatever valure you assign to the word “Jerk”). Jerks get complained about more than any other class of posters, Therefore, yes. People who are complained about _a lot_ are often banned. But the cause isn’t the complaining, the cause is the Jerk-ish behavior that generates the complaints. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/66 "2001-10-19T04:32:27Z")
People get banned around here for being jerks. Being jerks also frequently makes them unpopular. Unpopularity does not cause the banning, it is simply a side effect of the behavior that causes the banning. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/67 "2001-10-19T04:35:27Z")
**Fenris** , were you reading my mind, or I yours? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/68 "2001-10-19T04:38:05Z")
**RickJay** said > [@](#): > > . A more popular poster could get away with GQ questions FAR worse than what he was apparently banned for. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; Can you link to one? At least, one who _continued_ the reprimanded behavior after being warned? I doubt it. **Fenris** said > [@](#): > > People who are complained about a lot are often banned. But the cause isn’t the complaining, the cause is the Jerk-ish behavior that generates the complaints Preach it, brother! Amen! In a perfect world, **Fen’s** words would end this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/69 "2001-10-19T05:30:55Z")
Bill wasn’t banned because of his stupid comments about Clinton. He was banned because he posted his stupid comments about Clinton after being warned and warned and warned over and over and over again to stop being such an idiot. Of course most other posters wouldn’t have been banned for what he said. They would have been, get this, WARNED. The Admins would have said “If you keep up this crap, we’re gonna kick your ass”. And if the average poster took the warning to heart, the incident would be forgotten. But that wasn’t Bill’s first warning, nor his second, nor his third. That particular post was simply the last straw. And that’s too bad, since I thought Bill added a lot to the boards. But he brought it on himself. [strother martin]“What we have here is…failure to communicate. He got what he wanted. And…I don’t like that any more than you men do.”[/strother martin] ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/70 "2001-10-19T05:36:18Z")
**samclem** - Ahh, that post of yours completely wooshed me. Mind simplifying it for me? ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/71 "2001-10-19T05:39:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > > \*\*…you cannot deliberately make these addditions (just because, merely because etc.) to people’s positions as you restate them? \*\* > > Part of “restating” someone else’s position, Izzy, frequently involves using different words from those in the original statement.\*\* Yes, but to restate someone else’s position using words that significantly change the original meaning is either dishonest or negligent. > [@](#): > > \*\*This statement: > > > [@](#): > > > > While on the subject, perhaps you would care to comment on whether you complained to the admins about WB and asked that he be banned? Your comments in the post that I linked to seemed remarkably prescient. > > –clearly implies that you thought I had, singlehandedly, gotten WB banned.\*\* No, it doesn’t. Given the talk of ‘six respected posters,’ _at worst_ he thought that you were one of six to get WB banned (“singlehandedly?”). All we can know for certain from his post is that he suspected that you had asked that WB be banned. There’s no need to overstate that. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/72 "2001-10-19T05:48:43Z")
**samclem** - Scratch that- figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/73 "2001-10-19T06:03:02Z")
Forget that scratch it above. What I thought is apparently wrong. So… What the hell are you getting at sam? ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/74 "2001-10-19T06:09:21Z")
Regarding **Wildest Bill** : I shall now dance a happy dance. _{dances a happy dance}_ Here endeth the happy dance. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/75 "2001-10-19T06:09:22Z")
Well, looks like I missed my chance to make the **Wildest Bill** Fan Club. I will miss him. He was just this guy, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/76 "2001-10-19T06:36:36Z")
The guy never fazed me…but then, I always ignored him completely. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/77 "2001-10-19T06:47:48Z")
Darn! I had a chance only once to show how wrong he was but he never replied to me. I lost my chance to be touched by one of the big ones from the dark side! Oh well, OTHO Seethruart is still roaming around but he is a one trick pony, not on the level of **Wildest Bill**. “Nonsense- God gave Wildest Bill a brain, too. If Wildest Bill wants to do like Kirk and build his own gun, let him.” - Ben “Ok ben who is Kirk? Some guy that probably blew his head off with a homemade or something?” - Wildest Bill. I am going to miss that guy. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/78 "2001-10-19T07:31:11Z")
Well, I for one will miss him…He was entertaining…I really don’t know why, but he was. He did bring it on himself though. ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/79 "2001-10-19T07:45:12Z")
Glad he’s gone. After initial amusement, I’ve avoided any thread where he set foot. His one joke just got staler and nastier. Friends, I’m getting old. I’m still responsive to wit, to trivia and cheap gags. I love to learn new things and be jolted out of my comfortable way of thinking. But life is too short for vexatious time-wasters. And the wrath of the **Noble Duck** was wasted on him. [sub]Striking his lyre, Redboss sings: “O Google-goddess, Noble Duck, Please lead as we meander. , Research, Enquire, Instruct, Inspire, And serve sauce to the gander.” [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-wildest-bill-banned/88332/80 "2001-10-19T07:49:16Z")
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