# WTF? Otto was just banned by Ed. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 10, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971 "2008-09-10T18:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/381 "2008-09-11T00:48:52Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Aww - you’re so witty and quick! It’s almost like you spend all your free time online just thinking up zingers to throw at people! Careful. Your **snark** is showing here in the **pit**. ---
**Author:** ![DoItDan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DoItDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoItDan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/382 "2008-09-11T00:48:59Z")
I’m a troll and even I believe this ban is bullshit. Fuck you, Ed Zotti. I’ve enjoyed the Cecil Adams collumn for a long time. For me, this actually hurts the collumn. Because I picture an uptight pansy dickwad writing it now. Doubt I’m alone. ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/383 "2008-09-11T00:49:06Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I think most of the people in this thread have crossed swords with Otto. Eeww gross, no. What’re you insinuatin, nancy boy? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/384 "2008-09-11T00:51:29Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Careful. Your **snark** is showing here in the **pit**. Oops! Let me adjust my slip! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/385 "2008-09-11T00:51:40Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Aww - you’re so witty and quick! It’s almost like you spend all your free time online just thinking up zingers to throw at people! Wow, that’s one I haven’t heard before! Gee, I spend too much time online! Why no one’s ever mentioned that before! How wonderfully clever! Whatever, **alice**. Run and play, I’m tired of you. **Sampiro** , this is _ **duffer** _, we’re talking about. The guy apparently is glad SSM was voted down because of some snarky remark some random guy said to him on the internet last year. I mean, yeah, let’s a HUGE percentage of the population suffer because someone online was mean to me! Waaaahhhh!!! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/386 "2008-09-11T00:52:46Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > There was a case of an admin who broke the law by linking people to a member’s listing on a sexual predator site. (snip) Luckily for her Ed wasn’t in a bad mood that day, she might have lost her head. You have an amazingly good recollection of events that happened well before you joined. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/387 "2008-09-11T00:53:49Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > You have an amazingly good recollection of events that happened well before you joined. Some of us have been reading these boards since long before we joined. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/388 "2008-09-11T00:54:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > **Sampiro** , this is _ **duffer** _, we’re talking about. The guy apparently is glad SSM was voted down because of some snarky remark some random guy said to him on the internet last year. I mean, yeah, let’s a HUGE percentage of the population suffer because someone online was mean to me! Waaaahhhh!!! The name’s familiar but… there’ve been so many. (Plus, you’re entitled to your own sympathies of course but I personally don’t associate with the Guest-Dopers [the gue-bloods] enough to learn their names and histories— I understand some of them like pocket change and will do odd tricks for it and some you’d barely know from a Charter Member in certain lighting.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/389 "2008-09-11T00:55:48Z")
I haven’t read the whole thread; I just wanted to register my protest before this thread is closed and disappeared. **Otto** wasn’t my favourite poster simply because he seemed a lot pissier than he ever needed to be, but that banning was power-tripping bullshit, pure and simple. I’ve always been proud of the fact that we can and do challenge the management around here on a daily basis, and they give as good as they get and actually answer some of our questions sometimes. Between the Barn House bullshit and this latest bullshit, my bullshit putting-up-with abilities are starting to get stretched. And let me go on record as having defended the management around here the day we switched to the new server - will that get me a warning before I’m banned for uttering a peep that Fast Eddie doesn’t like? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/390 "2008-09-11T00:56:02Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > You have an amazingly good recollection of events that happened well before you joined. Better watch out before someone drops a week-long junior mod ban on you! Besides, I still have my email response from Tuba where she was informed that I’d been here before. Any other questions before you fuck off? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/391 "2008-09-11T00:56:38Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Whatever, **alice**. Run and play, I’m tired of you. You’re so cute. Potentially the biggest loser on the board, and you think you can condescend to me. Sweet! Seriously, get a life. Make some friends. Get laid. The board won’t seem quite so important to you anymore you pathetic little thing. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/392 "2008-09-11T00:58:28Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > You have an amazingly good recollection of events that happened well before you joined. Yeah, I know this story too. I’m not sure what this is trying to prove. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/393 "2008-09-11T00:59:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The name’s familiar but… there’ve been so many. (Plus, you’re entitled to your own sympathies of course but I personally don’t associate with the Guest-Dopers [the gue-bloods] enough to learn their names and histories— I understand some of them like pocket change and will do odd tricks for it and some you’d barely know from a Charter Member in certain lighting.) Ah, he’s an older one, of the **december** stripe. He used to be more active around here. Not QUITE as bad as the former, but still in the same mold, roughly. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/394 "2008-09-11T01:04:59Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Please explain how **Otto** ’s question constitutes " making rude remarks about the staff." I believe **Otto’s** question was snarky because it was in a thread that was about people being rude to the staff – and not a general thread about people being rude to the staff, it was a thread in response to specific rudeness that occurred very recently. Instead of posting about people being rude to the staff, or asking for clarification about the situation, or (my personal favorite) simply **not posting anything at all** , he posted about the staff being rude. I’ve always found it very annoying and childish when people try to flip things around like that. It was neither the time nor place to chime in with insinuations about the staff being rude, and based on his posting history, I feel pretty confident it wasn’t an innocent, hypothetical question but rather a jab that expressed his opinion of the staff. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/395 "2008-09-11T01:09:46Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > **Sampiro** , this is _ **duffer** _, we’re talking about. The guy apparently is glad SSM was voted down because of some snarky remark some random guy said to him on the internet last year. I mean, yeah, let’s a HUGE percentage of the population suffer because someone online was mean to me! Waaaahhhh!!! Did I misread what he posted? He said he voted no to the Ban. > [@](#): > > Keep in mind, I offered my vote against the SSM ban in ND when it was on the ballot. I tried. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/396 "2008-09-11T01:12:54Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Did I misread what he posted? He said he voted no to the Ban. :smack: Oh wait-when he said he was 100% support of the ban, I thought he meant the SSM ban, even though he voted against it. But now he meant the ban against **Otto**. Okay, never mind. D’oh! Either way, I’m pretty neutral on **Otto** -I don’t have any feelings about him one way or another. But I still think the reason for his banning was totally out of line. And if **duffer** ’s only supporting it because of some personal remark, that makes him a stupid jackass in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/397 "2008-09-11T01:15:26Z")
Fuck fuck fuck fuck. I’m still not really over the massive hemorrhaging of many many damn fine posters that occurred during [Melingate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=39402). (I was just thinking of **Quadell** the other day, in fact). And now again there has been heavy-handed bullshit and a great many really nice people who make the board what it is are saying finaly bye-byes in droves… fuck! Don’t do this, Ed. This place is a community. People don’t feel safe in a community if they don’t feel they can anticipate how the police are going to behave, and at random intervals they just do apeshit on some random citizen for no particularly discernable reason. I’m not saying “the moderation of this board should be by majority vote or consensus”. I’m saying that when large numbers of people say “well that was totally capricious and since it could happen to me at any time I’m just going to go ahead and leave now”, it is worth pausing, (in full possession of your full authority as owner of Da Place), and considering whether there isn’t some satisfactory solution to all this that doesn’t create that kind of outrage & sense of imminent vulnerability. Those of you who are saying you’re outta here: would you mind very much sticking around to perhaps negotiate a destination if we collectively decide to remain a community and just change the venue? I hate seeing it all torn asunder, it hurts like hell and I’m not sure I can go through it again. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/398 "2008-09-11T01:17:25Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > You have an amazingly good recollection of events that happened well before you joined. That looks kind of like junior modding. Please leave your password at the door on your way out. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/399 "2008-09-11T01:19:26Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > :smack: Oh wait-when he said he was 100% support of the ban, I thought he meant the SSM ban, even though he voted against it. But now he meant the ban against **Otto**. Okay, never mind. > > D’oh! Either way, I’m pretty neutral on **Otto** -I don’t have any feelings about him one way or another. But I still think the reason for his banning was totally out of line. And if **duffer** ’s only supporting it because of some personal remark, that makes him a stupid jackass in my mind. Hey, I think the \*\*ban \*\*was too much and too fast. But \*\*Otto \*\*has spent years pissing off other posters and pissing and moaning. I understand why many do not like him. I am like you in that I neither like nor dislike **Otto** , I just think \*\*Ed \*\*made a mistake and this and the other threads are what I expected as soon as I saw it. Good Og, this one damn thread has more posts in it than the The Barn House forum does so far. That does not even include **elmwood** ’s slightly [earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=482648)from right before Otto’s banning. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971/400 "2008-09-11T01:20:39Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > That looks kind of like junior modding. Please leave your password at the door on your way out. What, you didn’t spring fully formed from the forehead of Cecil on your join date, as I did? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-otto-was-just-banned-by-ed/462971.md?page=21)