I'm a former IC ZZL/P Mod = AMA

[hedge]

I think that is fair.. I doubt anyone on here could name a hard right position I have expressed on here.

I clicked the reply button before you added (or evidently deleted) that second sentence, I was going to say that I've never regarded you as a hard right poster...

 

[NYCBlueBlood]

I think that is fair.. I doubt anyone on here could name a hard right position I have expressed on here.

Yeah, I hear you. My family still calls me the Young Republican... because I'm the most right leaning person in my family.

 

[NYCBlueBlood]

I feel like this was a lot of words to say, "Snoop's an idiot, but it's not his fault, and we should appreciate him anyway."

 

[SnoopRob]

Your case I think was a bit unusual. Overnight you went from a known public figure with a job which required you to maintain a more or less neutral stance on any political topic... to a pretty hard right leaning person (by board standards).

You I think relished in it a bit, as I'm sure you'd had to bite your tongue a thousand times prior. But the board had no idea how much your true opinions varied from your public persona, so it seemed to posters here like you'd had some sort of sudden personality shift. You also went from somebody who stayed out of almost every fight... to somebody who enjoyed punching back in every fight.

I always thought the board reacted poorly to your retirement... but I also think you enjoyed having the muzzle suddenly removed so you could bite back.

The bigger issue for 79 is that a good number of folks had previously figured out he was much more right-leaning than he claimed and he loudly denounced it every time it happened, including arguing back with others when they called him out for the right-lean that showed through in his posts, only to later proudly declare his bias once he retired.

The board's reaction to his post-retirement persona was built through a whole lot of denial and performative outrage on his part during the decade plus that he spent denying the partisan-lean that he clearly had.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Your case I think was a bit unusual. Overnight you went from a known public figure with a job which required you to maintain a more or less neutral stance on any political topic... to a pretty hard right leaning person (by board standards).

You I think relished in it a bit, as I'm sure you'd had to bite your tongue a thousand times prior. But the board had no idea how much your true opinions varied from your public persona, so it seemed to posters here like you'd had some sort of sudden personality shift. You also went from somebody who stayed out of almost every fight... to somebody who enjoyed punching back in every fight.

I always thought the board reacted poorly to your retirement... but I also think you enjoyed having the muzzle suddenly removed so you could bite back.

I don't really remember him being all that different although maybe he would have a different opinion. We all knew who he was and knew he was a Republican when he was still working as an editor. He wasn't afraid to tell us that he supported this or that position.

I still don't remember him really biting back but maybe I'm misinterpreting your characterization as being combative or rude. Seems like he was always very polite but not afraid to express his beliefs.

 

[Ddseddse]

The bigger issue for 79 is that a good number of folks had previously figured out he was much more right-leaning than he claimed and he loudly denounced it every time it happened, including arguing back with others when they called him out for the right-lean that showed through in his posts, only to later proudly declare his bias once he retired.

The board's reaction to his post-retirement persona was built through a whole lot of denial and performative outrage on his part during the decade plus that he spent denying the partisan-lean that he clearly had.

To be fair it wasn't really hard to spot... "I think the press has an obligation to vomit both side talking points as if there is not such thing as objective reality, so..." ...OK, bud, I'ma gonna stop ya right there...

 

[superrific]

The bigger issue for 79 is that a good number of folks had previously figured out he was much more right-leaning than he claimed and he loudly denounced it every time it happened, including arguing back with others when they called him out for the right-lean that showed through in his posts, only to later proudly declare his bias once he retired.

The board's reaction to his post-retirement persona was built through a whole lot of denial and performative outrage on his part during the decade plus that he spent denying the partisan-lean that he clearly had.

He hasn't been retired for a decade, has he? I'm pretty sure he lost his position at the outbreak of Covid.

 

[superrific]

I always thought the board reacted poorly to your retirement... but I also think you enjoyed having the muzzle suddenly removed so you could bite back.

He didn't help his case by taking his whining to his newspaper and seeking to settle his scores there.

 

[CHAMTRAIN]

I'm still a little pissed at you for your carpet bombing bans on the USWNT thread. A lot of people essentially stating "STFU about Rapinoe" and quit ruining this thread were banned with no explanation.

Also a bit peeved at the mods for letting that one fucker absolutely SPAM the golf thread with impunity for 6 months straight.

Other than that I have no complaints and think I've deserved every ban and/or warning I've gotten.

 

[heel79]

He didn't help his case by taking his whining to his newspaper and seeking to settle his scores there.

Of all the takes this is the silliest. I was editor for 24 years and never once mentioned ZZL. I then mentioned briefly in a column but that defined me as whiny. My posting did change when I retired but not my beliefs. I was just less hesitant to express. I have shared before but twice there were efforts from ZZL posters to get me fired for posts. The first time I was a bit concerned, the second time my bosses laughed but it did make me more cautious. I will say again that no one can list a real hard right position I took. Social issues dominant the political board and I am left of center there. My conservatism is fiscal. I did get called racist alot, but then I would post edit defending the kneeling NFL players or berating local school board for passing on a more qualified AA for superintendent and there would be crickets.

 

[heel79]

He hasn't been retired for a decade, has he? I'm pretty sure he lost his position at the outbreak of Covid.

Yes. March 27 2020. I was laid off at my request so others would not be. But on here I was fired. Hell I still write for the paper.

 

[SnoopRob]

He hasn't been retired for a decade, has he? I'm pretty sure he lost his position at the outbreak of Covid.

Maybe I didn't phrase that right...he was on the ZZL for a decade plus before retirement denying his political views, even when others sussed them out.

 

[heel79]

Yes. March 27 2020. I was laid off at my request so others would not be. But on here I was fired. Hell I still write for the paper.

Maybe I didn't phrase that right...he was on the ZZL for a decade plus before retirement denying his political views, even when others sussed them out.

Tell me one right leaning view that you think I have. Should be easy.

 

[SnoopRob]

I'm still a little pissed at you for your carpet bombing bans on the USWNT thread. A lot of people essentially stating "STFU about Rapinoe" and quit ruining this thread were banned with no explanation.

IIRC, those were something like 24-hour bans just to get folks to cool down. Once warnings failed to get folks to stop derailing a thread, short-term bans were the next step.

 

[stankeylegjones]

I'm slightly dyslexic, with ie/ei being particularly bedeviling, so I didn't even notice that. Rallying cry of dyslexics: Dyslexics Untie!

You mean you’re an abnormal reader?

 

[hedge]

Also a bit peeved at the mods for letting that one fucker absolutely SPAM the golf thread with impunity for 6 months straight.

Was that yellowjacket? I think somebody mentioned that before. I can't really get my head around such a thing on a golf thread. What was the nature of this kerfuffle?

 

[superrific]

Of all the takes this is the silliest. I was editor for 24 years and never once mentioned ZZL. I then mentioned briefly in a column but that defined me as whiny. My posting did change when I retired but not my beliefs. I was just less hesitant to express. I have shared before but twice there were efforts from ZZL posters to get me fired for posts. The first time I was a bit concerned, the second time my bosses laughed but it did make me more cautious. I will say again that no one can list a real hard right position I took. Social issues dominant the political board and I am left of center there. My conservatism is fiscal. I did get called racist alot, but then I would post edit defending the kneeling NFL players or berating local school board for passing on a more qualified AA for superintendent and there would be crickets.

1. ZZL posters seeking to have you fired is . . . well, this is our new America. I just read an article about people threatening meteorologists for reporting on hurricanes. Sigh.

2. I remember that column differently than you do. While I would normally give you the benefit of the doubt (you know, as the author), I also think you've been backpedaling from it and seeking to downplay it. It sure came across to me (and many others) as the airing of grievances about your terrible treatment at the hands of board liberals. If you had ever admitted that it was boneheaded and laughed at yourself a bit, it would have gone a long way.

3. I do not remember any hard right positions you've taken. On the other hand, what has become a "hard right" position has been dumbed down to the point where "not having hard right views" isn't much to brag about. Still, I don't think anyone has ever confused you for posters like Calla.

4. I don't think you're consciously racist, but most commonly you belittle claims of racism when it's at issue. I just don't think you've really accepted that racism isn't only about personal bigotry, which is why "berating local school boards for passing on a more qualified AA" isn't the flex you think it is. It is racist, unquestionably, for a school board to depart from "meritocracy" in favor of a white candidate. But the bigger issue is that the very idea of "the best candidate for the job" is commonly a myth, and one that works against black people in systemic ways. That's not to say I oppose "meritocracy" in all its forms; only that it was an idea introduced to combat legacy wealth and was then co-opted by conservatives in race wars and put to work on a task for which it was never designed and cannot be defended.

 

[superrific]

Yes. March 27 2020. I was laid off at my request so others would not be. But on here I was fired. Hell I still write for the paper.

I don't know who has said you were fired. I suppose my words could be interpreted to that effect, but I was trying to be non-committal because obviously I don't know the whole story and even if I did at one point, I have forgotten. Thus, "lost your position" seems like a pretty neutral and factual description of what happened. If it connotes being fired, then I can say I didn't mean that at all.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Was that yellowjacket? I think somebody mentioned that before. I can't really get my head around such a thing on a golf thread. What was the nature of this kerfuffle?

It was the LIV stuff. A lot of folks, almost all the folks, hated LIV when the split was announced and I thought it was just a good way for the pros to get paid what they were worth.

So there'd be a few folks that would make some comment about Liv and I would make a more positive comment about Liv and it started going back and forth. Most people on there just wanted to talk about such and such course is in good shape or has anyone played at this course and I can understand why people certainly didn't like the LIV back and forth stuff.

I think characterizing it as one person spamming the board is pretty inaccurate because I really only responded to others and I always did it politely unlike the people that were such LiV detractors. I would guess that I was well less than half of the LIV comments as it was really only me and a couple other people against probably five or six people that were fussing about it. But the majority of folks didn't like LIV and plenty of folks hate hearing about things they disagree with.

 

[heel79]

I don't know who has said you were fired. I suppose my words could be interpreted to that effect, but I was trying to be non-committal because obviously I don't know the whole story and even if I did at one point, I have forgotten. Thus, "lost your position" seems like a pretty neutral and factual description of what happened. If it connotes being fired, then I can say I didn't mean that at all.

Not you. But others.