Hello!

This announcement is happening very suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, but here it is: I'm going to be stepping down as moderator of this forum, more or less immediately. In fact, I think Mat's finger is hovering over the button as I type.

What happens after that is somewhat up in the air, I believe. If you need moderator assistance in the immediate future then R*R can assist you. My hope is that new moderators will also come on board. Coincidentally, I've recently asked a couple of people if they were interested. I didn't know that I would be writing this post when I PM'd them, but I hope they will accept anyway, and not feel like I tricked them. I wasn't trying to be sneaky! The timing is accidental. Others who may be interested should talk to Mat Sklansky or at least express their interest here (looking at you, rococo).

As for me, well, I just need a break from politics, and to focus on some real life stuff that's more important. My hope is that this forum will go on and even be better with more and different mods. If it does, I'm sure I'll be around some in the future as a poster.

Apologies in advance to R*R, any new mods, and anyone else that deserves one.

Good luck.

Sorry you're leaving, WN.

You did a great job!

Thank you for your service to this Forum.

Stay well and be safe!

Edit: rococo would be a good new mod, in my opinion.

I haven't the slightest doubt that well named is and will continue to be happier because of this decision.

What happens next remains to be seen. RR has complete control until he quits, which will probably be the instant he sees this thread.

If there are posters here that want to see this forum remain open, you'll have to figure out a way for that to happen among yourselves. I will assign moderators if they volunteer and seem to have approval from the current community.

"well named has exceeded his mailbox space and cannot receive new PMs."

Hope it's nothing too serious irl, but hit me up (if you can clear your inbox) of you'd like to shoot the breeze over a beer some time.

Yeah sorry I left to take a walk. I have to delete like 1500 PMs now. What will I do without these wolf team messages from 2014?

I guess we all went a little overboard sending him dick pics.

Heh. I'm still holding onto mine.
Sorry you're leaving but I'm sure it's better for you

sad to see you go, but glad you will be the happier for it. You did a great job here.

Sorry to hear it you did a great job, fair civil and thoughtful. Hope all's well with you, cheers

Good job, idiot

RIP moderator Well Named. You did a good job and will be missed.

Sorry you are going. Thought you did a good job with what it was.

Maybe you could reopen and mod the old playground you had that was more academic focused and less on day to day politics (aka Trump) that was very low volume? Basically what you had before this forum was opened.

It seemed like that was much more manageable and actually worked pretty well and maybe was more enjoyable and interesting for the few people that participated in it.

Sad to see you go W_N. Hopefully you will still post.

It's a politics forum, not a safespace.

Thank you for all your hard work and effort.

Best of luck with the real life.

Realistically this forum is likely on borrowed time at this point-- but for those who would like to see it continue, we should probably make more of an effort at policing ourselves, being more civil, and with less blatant trolling (subtle trolling still encouraged of course)-- and with the full understanding that there are going to be some people itching to do the exact opposite.

Not having a got at you but the time to that was while we had a mod trying to make the forum work. Don't know if they'll be another one but if there is we have to support them by by not making them work to mod us once we know what they want. As you say, there's enough hassle from those trying to make modding difficult and getting the forum to fail

Also @Mat, not that I hate you or anything but you should step in as mod for a while.

You're right of course and I apologize for my part in contributing to the noise.
I'd encourage any new mods to temp ban liberally, especially for personal attacks

I will be happy to do that right after you auto-fellate to orgasm and then bite off and consume your penis. without complaining or vomiting.

Leave it to chez to find the surest way to have the forum closed by Monday :joy:

That's a shame, WN, because you've done good. Vaya con Dios. (Waves hat, turns horse around, disappears mysteriously over the desert sunset skyline.)

Done. Your move

I think there was some or mistake as I did not receive my PM invitation about becoming a mod

Your inbox is probably clogged with all the dick pics I've been sending you.

I certainly hope this forum is not going away. Several of the threads are very interesting, such as the one Cuepee started about the Democratic Party splitting into two factions. I would hate to see this forum go away, especially this close to the election.

I know being a mod is not an easy job - and there are times when direct intervention is necessary. I recall one recent incident where I committed a major faux pas that required immediate attention. After the Nevada caucus - which Bernie Sanders won - I started a thread with the title I'm Contemplating Suicide in which I went on to explain that if it came down to a choice between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump for President; I might as well slit my wrists. (Of course, I wasn't actually contemplating suicide - which [I thought] everybody would immediately realize - but my choice of thread title was ... inelegant.) Since this is a politics forum, it didn't occur to me that folks would take me literally until after I had clicked the "Post Quick Reply" button. This is a condition that tends to afflict us "olds" ... as we get older the frequency of stepping into cow piles tends to increase. There is a medical term for this affliction: GOMS - Grumpy Old Man Syndrome - a condition which has also infected Howard Beale.

A sharp mod quickly diagnosed the situation and changed my thread title. I immediately realized my attempt at trying to be clever fell to the ground like a lead balloon, so I thanked the mod for correcting my mistake. Incidents like this are a perfect example of why we need mods and why we should appreciate what they do.