"Why is one set of arm-waving accusations more compelling than another?"

Because the worst abuses are being committed by those who hold power, against those who don't. The playing field is tilted heavily to the side of those who can cut off anyone's arms on a whim, and do so regularly.

I don't live here manitas. I just roost here now and then, like the crow on the cradle. Nor do I care one iota if the place were to be permanently unplugged at 12:01 a.m. 2004. Mudcat is one of several folk music forums on the internet. Pointing out the nasties in this one is one of my internet hobbies. It takes little thought, because the power abuses here are so blatantly obvious, except to those who are most addicted/invested in this place as their personal clubhouse. Anyone with any emotional distance here just doesn't engage in this petty bullshit, because they know there is real life out there, passing by those who spend all their time and energy in this web backwater.

I figure anyone dumb enough to sign up for cookies and milk here, much less stupid enough to blindly and unquestioningly send their money into Max's black hole bank accounts, gets what they bloody well deserve from the place, frankly.