Actually Tinker, I don't think it would be all that difficult to do the job of moderating the forum.

The problem we're seeing right now, is that Max has always stated that Mudcat is NOT AND WILL NOT BECOME a moderated forum.

Nonetheless, without any discussion, announcement, etc. the forum has been changed from unmoderated to moderated by Joe and the clones, which include people like catspaw and katlaughing, who are very busy defending their "behind the scenes suggestions" Lepus Rex keeps referring to in these very threads. It is their suggestions, which it doesn't take an idiot to figure out, are now being implemented with no announcements. How do I know just whose suggestions are being implemented here? I don't for certain of course, because I'm not a privleged insider. But some of us can read and read between the lines of the most transparent posters here. Lepus has sussed out the same thing through his close readings of certain people's posts to the forum. The rest of you don't notice when the clones are at work, because they haven't come for you and your posts. Yet.

So some people, like Beedubyaeel, CarolC, The Shambles, etc. feel they have been victims of an insulting, embarrassing enforcement of rules they didn't know existed, have never read, and don't understand the need for, yet still feel compelled to support "the moderator" because that is what a reasonable "member" does.

So, what does any of this have to do with "nasty characters" and "anonymous guests"? Well, the truth is, not much. Mudcat hasn't had any serious problems with trolls and flame wars in quite a long time, actually. There have been plenty of heated discussions, but they have remained quite civil. So the reality is, these changes are being implemented because a group of Mudcat insiders, some of whom are also clones, have decided they are sick and tired of "reading through" certain types of BS threads. Well, as some very reasonable people have pointed out a million times, if they don't like the BS threads, they now have an easy option to keep all that visual clutter out of their personal lives--it is called the BS filter.

But that just isn't good enough for them. No, now they want EVEN MORE POWER TO CONTROL THE POLITICAL THREADS. Please note, the only threads being consolidated/censored and deleted are ones the de facto forum moderator Joe, and his merry band of clones, have decided are the most offensive to them personally. It is no coincidence that the types of threads Joe and the clones have deemed "frivolous" also include posters they personally don't like, and would like to somehow prosecute/persecute in their typical passive/aggressive way.

One can only wonder what would have happened to the Drumcree threads under the new jack boot rules.

Lepus Rex is dead on right about one thing. One guest in particular (me), who doesn't post personal attacks, contributes as much as many here to the music threads, but who enjoys the banter of the political BS threads, is particularly loathed by Joe, catspaw, Big Mick, and katlaughing. Sure there are plenty of others who loathe me as well, but they don't wield power behind the scenes of this forum the way the inner elite do. Check out their "complaints" that are in lockstep with Joe's solutions, and their "justifications" in these threads that provide the "logic" to support the current "remedy" to...what exactly? We haven't been told exactly what the problem is that these "new rules" are designed to remedy, have we?   

The changes we are seeing now are to fix problems that don't even exist. The changes we are seeing now are the result of Joe and the clones putting their collective heads together and deciding that Iraq and PEL threads are "a problem". Who among have complained to Joe about these threads being a problem? And what problem is it that these threads are causing, exactly?

It would be so much better for the insider community if certain changes would be implemented. One, membership only. That way Mudcat could be the private club it felt like to these people when they first joined, which it will never be again because of the growth of members. Because you see, it is the Mudcat insiders who are the power behind Joe's throne, and it is THEIR will we are seeing done here. They are the ones who demanded this music forum tolerate the BS, because they loved the BS. When it was about them and their Mudcat clubhouse. Now, because of the growth of the forum, the BS isn't about them. The BS is often quite serious and political. The power behind the Mudcat throne is only willing to tolerate the political BS to a point. We will just never know what that is.

We will also never know if and when our (especially) ironic attempts to start a serious thread with something humorous will be deleted or consolidated for being "frivolous". I also wonder who will suggest that Joe Offer's personal attacks on certain forum members and guests need to be deleted too. Because Joe Offer does say some pretty damn insulting things to people here. Not the sign of a good moderator. Good moderators don't attack the forum users. Good forum moderators don't use a personal yardstick to judge what is acceptable, because in most moderated forums, there are a number of moderators with different philosophies about what is and isn't acceptable, and must reach consensus before any individual action is taken.

Clearly, the de facto moderators of the forum have begun to flex their collective muscle, and Joe is being sent out as the public face of it. But in case some of you haven't noticed, Joe ain't here 24/7 while all this "consolidation" is taking place. Don't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

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Aw, I don't dislike you. You write very well, and I admire your chutzpah. I actually agree with you on most of the political opinions you've expressed. Your main problem is that you're so darn prolific - you produce words too fast. I just have to keep you in check a bit, so you don't overwhelm the forum and crowd out the music stuff.
As for who moderates the forum, the authority for moderation is held by Max, Jeff, Joe, and Jeri - I do most of the moderation work, but the other three and I are pretty much in agreement about policy. The clones have no authority to do forum moderation.
-Joe Offer-