Steve Shaw says: But there's that uneasy feeling, especially with Joe, that he can kind of say daft things just as much as the rest of us can, yet be rather manipulative apropos of "what's allowed" here. Address that, Joe!

I do very little in the way of editing for moderation in the non-music (BS) forum, and that's intentional. I usually restrict myself to "no-brainer" editing in the BS forum, things like deleting Spam and duplicate messages, and correcting typos like one Steve pointed out in one of his posts today. I don't really believe in deleting posts for "disciplinary" reasons - I feel that once the damage is done, it's done; although there some situations where I do believe a post should be deleted. I deleted a bunch of political posts from the "Best Moments" thread last week because they were posted after I posted notice that I wasn't going to allow any more political posts in that thread because they weren't getting us anywhere - and that was in the music forum.

I do believe in fairness, and that everybody should be free to express his/her opinion. I think that there are certain Mudcatters who have bullied their way into control of the BS Forum, and that they do their best to bully right-wing posters into silence. And rather than respond to those right-wing posters with facts and logic, they go on endlessly with their accusations and name-calling and other combative tactics. And I hate that, and I actively participate in the BS forum discussions in my attempt to challenge that sort of mean, bullying conduct. I speak my opposition to that conduct very forcefully - but I use my voice, not my edit button, to make my point. Steve Shaw calls that "manipulative," and I can't quite see how he can defend that accusation. In fact, I think he should be ashamed of having made such an implication without giving any facts to back it up.

I get it that the bullies don't like my opposition to their control of the forum, and they make airheaded accusations about my "overstepping authority" or being "manipulative." But I don't use authority or manipulation to express or enforce my opposition. I use facts and logic, and language. You bullying folks should try that sometime. It's a novel concept.

For 21 years, it has been my practice to explain any action I have taken that has any sort of "disciplinary" implication. If I close a thread, I close it with an explanatory note. Some moderators and Mudcatters haven't liked my explanatory notes, but that's what I believe in doing. If I delete a message, I generally tell the poster privately why I've done it. But I rarely delete messages or close threads, other than for technical reasons. I just don't believe in it, and I'd rather try logic instead of power.

So, Mr. Shaw, I think you owe me an apology or a factual defense of your accusations.

-Joe Offer-