I don't watch O'Reily, but I don't think the stuff he says on TV is anywhere near as vitriolic as BruceZ's outburst.

Not literally. Yes.

Of course you're not obligated. No one's obligated to do much of anything in this forum. That's a non-answer.

I didn't intend to mischaracterize your position - so sorry. I wasn't really part of the first go around with you specifically so I could have easily come to the wrong conclusions.

That being said, I'm honestly curious about your answer to the BruceZ is a racist question. It seems strange to me for someone to come in to this thread about him and make a stand against people being called racist inappropriately unless they think he's been mischaracterized.

Maybe?

I mean, I don't really care if you ban "racists" or not. The question is: why do you have a "no racism" policy? It is for reputation? Or is because you don't want a prospective minority customer/contributor to be offended?

If it's the former, then you can allow Bill O'Reilly-level racism because it is fairly indirect and your reputation won't be harmed because you can obviously distance yourself from it.

If your goal is the latter then you have to consider that O'Reilly level comments are highly offensive to a large number of minorities.

This is a good post, especially the bolded part.

That is true, except the "only spewing" part.

But it's not the first time he's made those threats and the moment has passed, where is his walking that back?

If Bill drew comparisons between how he deals with noisy Mexican neighbors and a f***ing cockroach infestation, then yeah, I'd probably call him out for using ethnic slurs and ask for him to be uninvited from 2+2.

Then if people began sharing a bunch of other outrageously, overtly racist s*** that he's been posting for years? Well, I'd probably start wondering why 2+2 has deliberately ignored or promoted (no other reasonable explanations) racism by maintaining racist moderators.

Not a good look for 2+2.

The other thing is that - it's unquestionably clear to me that BruceZ is racist, or at least holds a number of views that the majority of people find offensive. As such I don't think he should be a mod in a forum like SMP/Politics/OOT where judgement calls frequently have to be made about content. Seems like a poor choice.

Modding a forum like "Beginner's Questions" or whatever seems more appropriate since personal idealogical views aren't really relevant.

So why are Bruce's defenders and the people asking questions to gain more information being treated like they are just as bad as a white supremacist?

There are only 3-4 people who post in SMP.

Ah ok, so if there were such things as witches, nothing wrong with torturing and burning them.

No its not.There are modern definitions as for example "An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views."

Spank looks bad enough just as a person without having to sink to ableist statements just to get under his skin, IMO.
Mat, if Mel Gibson joined the forum and started talking about his "the holocaust never happened" opinions, would he be banned?

Poor spank all he did was fail to enforce pretty much the only rule in this forum, and now people are upset with him. Yeah right put that crown of thorns on again buddy.

I'm not gonna get dragged into answering a question about whether bruce is a racist or not, because that's accusatory.

But you're all on a witch hunt!!!111

I wouldn't want him banned. I just want to be allowed to call him a pussy when he inevitably runs away from a rough and tumble debate where he doesn't get to define the rules.

In less than 5 seconds. Which he damn well should be under the rules. But somehow racism is different.

That is the reason you can not cry "racist" and stop racists.

First, because they come across as disingenuous. Arguing semantics, ignoring the worst parts of what he said, claiming context without offering alternative context, etc.

Second, I don't think they're really being treated as bad as a white supremacist. Unless, I guess, if you look at it as the worst that can happen on 2+2 is that you get called bad names. So white supremacists and silly disingenuous racist-supporters are both being called bad names...

Because some of them seem dumber than your typical white supremacist and we hate stupid.

Can a mod please delete every post of mine where I responded to swissmiss? It's just too painful to be reminded of all that time I wasted, I could have spent that time on something productive like candy crush.

Laurie Cabot is a well known Witch who has a best selling book on the topic. Also Margo Adler of NPR, who recently passed away, wrote a best selling book about witches and related types. So they exist, literally.

But this is besides the point. Is it possible to force a person to repent for mistakes and if they do repent under social pressure, is it really genuine?

There's no question that many of the posts are racist to some degree, but I have not yet come to the conclusion that they warrant any administrative action.


What concerns me in the Politics forum is that conversation is stifled because of the hypersensitivity people have. That's why i created this forum. But it was very quickly labeled a haven for racists and moderators were added and then I gave up and disappeared.

Now I'm back because of this latest issue. And I won't be making any quick decisions. I've been that way from the beginning. I know that annoys people a great deal sometimes, but that's the way it is.

Back to the racism accusations that concern me. I believe that anything which the general population is debating should be allowed a voice here.

So if someone is 100% socially conservative, anti gay, pro stop and frisk, anti abortion, etc.. they most certainly should not be banned as long as they are reasonably civil.

And I would be inclined to allow even more blatant racism from posters then most of you because they would be faced with incredible opposition.

Keep on with the debates. I'll be watching and thinking about what you all have to say. The good news is, nobody will be hurt or killed because i make a bad decision.

Do you believe in Harry Potter?

Oh dear god spank. No, they do not exist in the same way they "existed" when the Salem trials occurred.

Unless you literally think magic is real, in which case you're precious and I wish you were right

But stop semantiking it up, it's a bad look.