When moderators aren't moderate....

[geothorn]

I'm sorry to have to bring this to Service and Support, but, the Political Arena is suffering from immoderate moderation. Although I sometimes do learn invaluable information from posts made by Ken Cox and Bronco in the Political Arena, they are very definitely politically biased, and their shared bias shows, quite frequently.

How well is a Political Arena being moderated when the moderators, themselves, throw around a term like "Bush hater"...? In a time, place, and situation where approximately 63% of Americans question or downright dislike how President Bush and his administration are doing nearly everything, and, in today's BladeForums Political Arena could be referred to as "Bush haters," why is the Political Arena being run as though President Bush and his administration are running a tight ship, somehow without acknowledging that a majority of Americans distrust and do not support President Bush and his administration...?

Personally, I believe, until Ken Cox and Bronco's style and quality of moderating changes, to something even close to "moderate," the Political Arena should be de-listed as an example of a "moderated forum."

I've been called "liar" and 'traitor,' too many times, without the Political Arena moderators saying anything against it....

Sinccerely,
GeoThorn

 

[Cougar Allen]

There are plenty of political forums on the net. Can't you find even one with moderators that suit you?

 

[Gollnick]

... approximately 63% of Americans question or downright dislike how President Bush and his administration...

That may or may not be true. But that doesn't matter. Statistically, your argument, that since 63% of Americans question or downright dislike Bush then 63% of the bladeforums.com political forum must too and any deviation from that is evidence of misconduct by the moderators, is invalid. You're taking data about one population and applying it to another. With the ever-present risk on an analogy on these forums, what you're doing is like saying, "X% of Americans can not solve algebraic equations. Therefore, we expect that X% of the math department faculty at MIT will not be able to solve algebraic equations." It's an extreme example, but it illustrates my point. The statistic for a general population does not necessarily apply to a subset of that population. I think you'll find that the knife community is politically more conservative than the American population in general.

The other day, the president of a local company who is a friend of mine called me in to investigate a dispute within his company. A certain piece of equipment had stopped working on the assembly line and so a batch of circuit boards in progress sat for the better part of a day while the machine was repaired. The manufacturing engineer felt that the boards needed to be scrapped. But the boards are expensive and the sales department wants to fill its orders on time. The manufacturing engineer was absolutely correct. The solder flux had become entrapped in the vias on the boards and would, over time, corrode the vias resulting in failure. But, the manufacturing engineer could not explain that to the executives and convince them of that -- he couldn't sell his ideas -- because he kept going into long lectures on the chemistry and metalurgy of the situation. I used a simple analogy and boiled it down to about three hundred words and the president himself declared, "We've gotta scrap those boards!" My point is that you have to craft your message for your audience. You've got to sell your ideas. And any salesman will tell you that what separates the mearly good from the great is the ability to make the sale in a hostile room. Any persuasive speaker will tell you that a presentation that begins by insulting the audience is going to be very difficult to bring to successful conclusion; it's one of the most sophisticated of rhetorical techniques and best left to the highest performers.

Basically, if you're having trouble selling your ideas, then maybe you need to rethink your approach.

 

[bob bowie]

Butch up.

 

[powernoodle]

Moveon.org would welcome you and call me all variety of nasty names. Would you find moveon to be unfairly moderated (if they have a forum, that is)? Probably not. Websites are what they are, and "fairness" doesn't really enter the equation.

Other than at sites geared toward the minority left, your incessant whining about an administration and congress elected by the majority will, predictably, lead to unfavorable replies.

cheers

 

[NickelPlate]

Just don't read the stuff. It's only people's opinions. Personally I come here for the knives. If I actually wanted to debate politics, it wouldn't be here.

NP

 

[Danbo]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

Why not post your whining redundant rubbish somewhere else. :jerkit:

 

[GigOne]

Oh Noes. . . . .another "The World According to geohorn" post.


More like. . . . .

 

[TOMBSTONE]

Well, I Don't adore Bush even though I voted for him.I know for sure I didn't care for John Kerry at all..That's the choices we had and so Bush got my vote.I only read the Political Forum rarely,but you are a very familiar presence there.
I realize that we do have a Political forum here,but the main focus is knives.With all due respect,perhaps there are better forums for that subject than here? I don't agree with most of your opinions posted in the Political forum,but respect you have the right to be disattisfied with your present leadership.
Moderators are human also,and do have strong opinions I'm sure as you do.They are participating members here also,and I don't see why they should have to refrain from stating their views.It would be different if you were being banned or edited because they didn't agree with your opinion,but this is not the case.Don't be suprised or disturbed if everybody does not agree with you about Bush and his decisions.My wife is a Bush hater long before he took Office.She voted for Kerry,we have different views of these two men.
I don't think most people will like every decision that the President makes.It is a difficult situation to be in, to be the leader of this Nation today.President Bush is far from perfect,but I support what he is doing in Iraq,because we have to finish what we started no matter how I feel about the War.
Like I've told my wife, If it makes you feel any better he won't be running for re-election again.

 

[Planterz]

I have an idea, let's make geothorn a moderator, and see how fair and impartial he would be. :jerkit:

 

[Ken C.]

Corrct me if I'm wrong but isn't the main theme of this forum knives? Thought so. Geoturd should go find a forum that caters strictly to politically charged whiners.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

The fact is that the moderators on the political forum are going to continue to be the moderators. Their political leanings are not going to change. The way they moderate is not going to change either. You are tilting at windmills.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

 

[lotus1972]

I'm sorry to have to bring this to Service and Support, but, the Political Arena is suffering from immoderate moderation. Although I sometimes do learn invaluable information from posts made by Ken Cox and Bronco in the Political Arena, they are very definitely politically biased, and their shared bias shows, quite frequently.

How well is a Political Arena being moderated when the moderators, themselves, throw around a term like "Bush hater"...? In a time, place, and situation where approximately 63% of Americans question or downright dislike how President Bush and his administration are doing nearly everything, and, in today's BladeForums Political Arena could be referred to as "Bush haters," why is the Political Arena being run as though President Bush and his administration are running a tight ship, somehow without acknowledging that a majority of Americans distrust and do not support President Bush and his administration...?

Personally, I believe, until Ken Cox and Bronco's style and quality of moderating changes, to something even close to "moderate," the Political Arena should be de-listed as an example of a "moderated forum."

I've been called "liar" and 'traitor,' too many times, without the Political Arena moderators saying anything against it....

Sinccerely,
GeoThorn

 

[cosine]

Oops, didn't know I stumbled into W&C here...

 

[Mike G]

Geothorn;

You have been told before; if you don't like the way this privately owned forum is ran, then you need to go elsewhere.

What part of the above escapes you?

If you cannot get along here, and continue to be a problem to the staff, the staff reserves the right to escort you to the plank.

 

[Bronco]

For the edification of geothorn, and anyone else who would care to join in the fun at the Political Arena, it must be noted that Spark has no requirement that the moderators there be politically agnostic. Rather, he graciously allows us to advocate and actively participate in threads according to whatever belief system we might hold. Thus, any attempt to equate our job with that of a moderator of a televised political debate is in err from the outset.

Instead, like all moderators at BFC, we are tasked with trying to minimize the occurrence of foul language, racial slurs, spam and, most importantly personal attacks. Add to that a couple of Political Arena specific restrictions on overtly religious content and hit-and-run postings, and you have a pretty good overall picture of our mandate. Still, being only human (and subject to all the constraints of time that families and careers demand of everyone), I, much more so than Ken, will occasionally miss an offending post. For that I apologize.

When these occasions do arise, the preferred course of action for the offended is to use the forum utility which allows for the reporting of a particular thread to the moderators. All too often, however, those offended choose rather to respond with a retaliatory post that is every bit as offensive or insulting as the original, if not more so. Hence Ken's frequent admonitions that forumites model the behavior they wish to see. In geothorn's particular case, my records indicate that he's availed himself of the thread reporting utility only once so far this year.

Of course, it would be great if the level of discourse were to rise across the board in the PA, but, in lieu of participating in more ugly exchanges, perhaps this is a feature we can all endeavor to use more often in the future.

 

[Mongo-man]

Edited because i let my emotions overtake.

 

[GigOne]

For the edification of geothorn, and anyone else who would care to join in the fun at the Political Arena. . . .

No thanks, I've heard that the moderators are biased.

. . . . .it must be noted that Spark has no requirement that the moderators there be politically agnostic. Rather, he graciously allows us to advocate and actively participate in threads according to whatever belief system we might hold.

Yup. . . .sounds biased to me.

When these occasions do arise, the preferred course of action for the offended is to use the forum utility which allows for the reporting of a particular thread to the moderators.

* Enter goethorn * ~ "But. . .but. . .but. . . .if I use that function, it goes directly to the forum moderator, which happens to be the two people that I have a problem with. I know that they will not change their behavior to adhere to MY RULES, MY STANDARDS, and MY BELIEFS !"

What geohorn needs is a 55-gallon drum of. . . .