The reason why we have rules against posters calling other posters trolls (outside of the Pit) is because the proper response to trolling is disciplinary action. Which moderators can give. Moderators can, may, and do, therefore, say that people are trolling when issuing disciplinary action for trolling. As in this case.
I’m not sure why this would be difficult to understand.
Because there is no trolling here, only liberal indignation. And corresponding censorship.
Moderator Note
Since this appears to be a jab at posters with contrary opinions to your own, it’s pretty trollish and jerkish itself. Remain civil in this forum or you may be subject to a warning.
For the record, IvoryTowerDenizen is female.
Colibri
My view and intention on that was informing said poster I was not responding to his line of questioning any further. If it came across a brash and impolite that was intended as well, because said poster was obviously attempting to derail the thread.
ITD’s sex is irrelevant. My ignorance on that topic is hereby abolished, FWIW.
There is definitely a double standard at play. Of course since you won’t be able to find an exactly identical post directed at a non liberal celebrity/politician you’ll see nothing but denial.
Was it an ugly comment? Yes. But no uglier than the millions of comments directed at republicans, conservatives, or others that don’t conform to the majority ideology on this board.
I’m not sure what I’m missing here, but these accusations of racism/misogyny/transphobia make no sense at all to me. The obvious interpretation of the joke is that if Hillary had been elected, Bill Clinton (who has a penis) would be “First Lady”. It’s just a silly joke, it’s an extreme stretch to interpret it as bigotry, and I don’t see how on earth it merits a warning.
Colibri’s opinion on my attitude with Czarcasm is interesting. “Appearance” being used an the portal of entry for arbitrary judgments in the vein of rule interpretation to support banning is remarkably consistent. The reins are tight on conservatives.
If it means that Michelle Obama and/or Hillary Clinton has a penis, then it’s transphobic because it’s considering it an insult to say that they have a penis, and it’s sexist because it’s criticizing women on grounds that wouldn’t be applied to men. If it means that Bill Clinton has a penis, then it’s transphobic because it’s calling him a lady, and sexist because it means the person making the statement is glad that we don’t have a woman as president, for the simple reason that she’s a woman.
Moderator Warning
I said you came across as jerkish and trollish, not “brash and impolite.” And since you’ve confirmed that your remark was directed at a specific poster, rather than being a general jab at those who disagreed with you, and that this was deliberate, I think we can up this to a warning for insults. Calling someone a “narcisstic bastard” wouldn’t be permitted anywhere outside the Pit.
PotAto Potato.
He was being kind with “appears” since you were indisputably and undeniably taking a “jab at posters with contrary opinions to your own” when you said “Not being a narcisstic bastard posting to puff my intellectual chest…”
Acting like a jerk in an ATMB thread about a warning someone got for acting like jerk does not prove you’re being oppressed when you’re called out on it.
I’ve been traveling today and haven’t had a chance to reply, or even read the whole thread.
There is a long standing theory, put forth by Alex Jones, that Michelle Obama is male. That is clearly what was being referenced. That is in part due to, what is claimed to be, Michelle Obama’s strong “masculine” features. That descriptor is more often attached to African American women that Caucasian women. This theory has been floated around for quite a while and shows up regularly, along with monkey imagery for Pres Obama, Michelle, and their children.
That conspiracy theory is nasty and racist, with some good transphobia thrown in. It was a jerkish thing to say.
I didn’t call the poster a troll, but that his post was trolling, since he admitted it was a joke, clearly to rile folks up. I took no issue with the other items on his list, so this isn’t a conservative vs liberal moderation issue.
And I’m a her.
I’m heading into a show soon, so won’t be on much. Hope this satisfies as much as anything will.
If you don’t want to engage, don’t. Inventing politically rationalized reasons for squelching discourse to prevent others from expressing views is… ?.
This would be a bizarre interpretation, imo. It seems obvious to me that the joke is targeted at Bill Clinton in the traditional “First Lady” role.
With all due respect, this seems to me to be extreme over-interpretation and offense-seeking over a silly joke.
… not what’s happening.
Do I get a prize for the giving the right answer?
Totally un-satisfied.
So you were pre-disposed to view any combination of words with the terms penis and 1st lady in that context?
Sorry, but I am unclear on the distinction between being a troll and the act of trolling.
Big flyin’ forking deal! It’s politics for chrissakes.
I’m looking for a retraction of the penis poster’s warning. I’ll take all I can get. 
Far from clear to me. I’ve also seen people (and not just on the right) joking in various ways about Bill Clinton in the traditional “First Lady” role. That’s the far more natural interpretation of the comment to me, and I think inferring malice and bigotry from the least generous interpretation of a comment (one that assumes that the poster is aligned with the views of a moron) is pretty dubious.
Regardless of how it is interpreted, I am at a loss to understand how “giving America a First Lady who doesn’t have a penis” can be construed by anyone as reasonable political discourse.
… a silly way to describe what happened when someone said "“Giving America a First Lady who doesn’t have a penis.”
There’s a right wing meme that Michelle Obama is a man.