
Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
Well, I'm glad BCR at least dropped an explanation.
To answer his (and other people's) questions as to why I haven't banned or restricted desertrunner...
It's not a reluctance to have to put energy into dealing with the fallout of banning him. If you recall, I banned him once before (and it stuck for a long time). Many predicted a SixToedPete Part Deux. That didn't happen. Instead, I explained privately why I banned him, he said he disagreed but understood, and the friendship went on as if none of this ever occurred. Which is what I expected, to be honest. I've known him 15 years, and never once observed any kind of psychotic or stalkerish behavior -- towards me or anybody. In real life, he's a nice guy with a good heart.
So if I'm not concerned about the fallout, why haven't I banned him?
As I've stated before, he brings content and discussion topics. If you scroll through this subforum, you'll see that some get serious engagement, while others get ignored. But overall his thread creation has been a net positive.
What hasn't been a net positive is his disdain for the old school NWP/DD/PFA community (which is why this subforum exists at all), and his instant reflex to attack any critics as "liberals". This especially makes no sense because many of the people criticizing him are either middle of the road politically, or even right wing. Some good examples include Tellafriend, gut, and go_buccos. None of those three guys are liberal. All three of them are also intelligent.
I will be making a decision soon regarding what to do about desertrunner here. It upsets me that BCR has left, and that others are on the verge of leaving. As I said on the radio show, it exists for the listeners, not for me. Same with the forum, for the most part. While my own enjoyment of the forum is obviously important, I actually find it more important that the lurkers and posters enjoy it. It's true that desertrunner has far more critics than supporters -- and these critics are unhappy about his posting style/frequency, not his opinions.
desertrunner, I have to say that if you completely disregard what the forum community as a whole says, and if you look at the "old school posters" with complete disdain, you're going to end up banned here. That's not what I want, but that's what is going to happen. This community has existed for 21+ years over 3 different sites, with PFA comprising over 13 of those years. I can't let one person run everyone off, even if he's my personal friend.