Gibson was not the source of 'a lot' of problems on the 'cat. He was an illustrator of those problems.

Originally, before some of his truly atrocious personal references, I took him to be a sort of self-elected Lenny Bruce. His vituperation lost some of their pungency due to the readiness and, excuse the word, liberal application of his blather on all and sundry. It was reminiscent of a National Lampoon column where the supposedly witty host is replaced with Tourette's sufferers.

MG was not entirely without logical thought. Indeed, he originated several threads with cogent quotations. However, he was often a fomenter and he wrote some mean nasty stuff directed at people he didn't agree with, and he interjected low-blow comments that were usually devoid of meaningful content that would advance the thread.

Nevertheless, the truth that has often been stated in those threads, and occasionally mentioned in this one, is that all one had to do was ignore him and the others of his ilk, and move on.

In other words, MG offered mudcatters the opportunity to prove they were better than him. An opportunity they did not take.

The incredible size of this thread seals the deal. I recently re-watched "Life of Brian" and nothing rings truer to this moment than the disciples sitting around a table debating their call to take action as Brian is being crucified. Nothing can get 'em away from the table as they debate the need to anser a call to action.

This thread shows that MG was not the problem, he was a mirror of the problem.