I don’t kniw the history of this incident and that is not enough context for me to really understand why anyone would take offence. I just agree that Pudlo has successfully compromised the value of this communiuty by forcing the less thick-skinned members to impose stifling levels of control.
I think it’s also worth remembering that despite trolling RAIF and RGIF for over a decade, Pudlo was still allowed to post here, and went on posting here despite causing all the same kinds of trouble he had caused before. He was allowed to do this for a great length of time, and received a good deal of warnings, before finally being banned. So rather than the mods being heavy-handed here, I’d say they were being extremely lenient. (I know for a fact if I was a mod, he’d never have been allowed to post in the first place and if he’d somehow registered an account without me noticing, I’d have deleted it and permanently banned him the first time he posted.)
I thought I posted this but it seems to have disappeared.
I replied to this by saying- You’re right, you don’t know the history and you are defending a person that this community has deemed useless and irritating. There’s nothing wrong with the way this forum is moderated. If you don’t like it- go waste people’s time elsewhere.
i know about Pudlo’s history, I just don’t know the history and context of that quote. In isolation it could have been written by someone (a) who hates both Indians and Jews or (b) who thinks Indians are becoming as oppressed as Jews.
Anyway, thanks for your scintillating replies and your invitation to leave, which I believe I shall accept.
Thank fuck.
Laraquod, there’s not much history, the thread is a few below this one:
[url]https://intfiction.org/t/indians-are-the-new-jews/6323/1]
He was being a racist prick, by his own admission. It was a stupid, insensitive, hateful thing to say. Hardly an inch out of line.
I find it odd how a certain segment of society seems to believe simuktaneously that (1) racists should be banned and (2) everyone is actually subconsciously racist. You would think a movement that ascribes subconscious racism to everyone (at least ‘of privilege’) would be more understanding when it rears its ugly head, or at least stop short of a ban, because logic dictates that those two principles combined define a club of which no one can legitimately be a member.
I don’t agree with any bannings or deletions over point of view. I only agree with banning those who are trying to maliciously hack the board software itself. I do not need my mind protected for me by prigs.
Laroquod, no one was banned for that thread (which was not deleted).
Sorry, I don’t understand. Are you saying that I believe your points 1) and 2)? My point was, if you thought he’d just said “indians are the new jews” and been banned and had his post deleted, it would be worth your while to know that he didn’t just say “indians are the new jews”, he wasn’t banned and the post wasn’t deleted.
Don’t bother trying to explain it to him, Geoff. Might as well teach a dog to play the piano.
I appreciate that info, and also h/t to mostly useless for the link, which nevertheless I didn’t read. As I said, I don’t know nor really want to know about this incident. I guess what I object to the most is flinging the world ‘Pudlo’ at anyone who ever says anything disagreeable. How really distasteful that makes any discussion, especially to an outsider. I would seriously rather read a white supremacist / black panther flame war than another thread about whether somebody is secretly HWSABN, He Who Shall Always Be Named.
Yeah, flinging pudlo’s name around is kind of like playing the Hitler card. You automatically lose whatever argument you were having.
No I wasn’t trying to claim that you believe any particular thing. My post wasn’t really intended as a counterpoint to your post. I just don’t care what happened in this particular incident, and got distracted by a related thought. Sorry I didn’t make that more clear. I should have acknowledged your point, first.
Oh, OK. 
Hey, Laraquod,
This guy is just trying to stir up trouble, and using hot-button issues to do it. I doubt he holds any of the posts he’s made that are inflammatory as dear to his heart, or as an actual issue he holds. He’s trying to create flame wars, and has admitted that is his motive, now. It’s a divide and conquer game – and people are already falling into it. At the same time, he’s giggling in his mommy’s basement, watching everyone both defend and attack him, of which I’ll do neither.
I agree with you somewhat on allowing people to have their say – as long as they are actually posting something that isn’t just a troll, which I believe a lot of these recent messages are. I’ve read a lot of posts from you, and you’ve always been on topic and have a lot of good things to say, and I was disappointed when I read that you were leaving. Don’t fall for the sympathy game from this guy – that’s all it is.
And, I’m seriously going to make all attempts to stay out of this conversation after this. If you guys want to keep the flame wars going, and fall for this trap, then be my guest. It’s a sympathy card to put people on one side, and an irritating and personal attack card to put people on the other. Divide and conquer. (yawn).
See Paul, this is what I mean when I talk about “privilege” and specifically how you have it. (Which I don’t believe I ever have done before now, but which I am doing now.) It’s not that you are secretly an awful racist person who needs to be banned. But it’s that, well, you and I don’t particularly need to be protected from racism because it’s not directed at us.
Now someone who really has to deal with racism all day, in all sorts of forms, from what I hear it’s very stressful for them. Which means that, maybe, perhaps it’s a nice thing for them to be able to go read something where they’re not subjected to racist attacks. I value the ability of people who aren’t white to participate freely in the discussion without being subjected to racism more than I value the ability of anyone who feels like it to post off-topic racist bullshit (or even on-topic racist bullshit). If that requires a little light moderation, well, so be it.
(All this is orthogonal to the Pudlo question. I don’t particularly care whether the person posting racist bullshit is Pudlo. The problem is the racist bullshit.)
I’ve enjoyed our conversations in the past, but if you’re really going to throw a tantrum over the use of light moderation to limit the amount of racism on this board, goodbye.
Um, no. I disagree. It’s not goodbye – it’s like trading a rook for a pawn in chess. Laroquod has brought a lot to the table. Andreas came here with the intent to troll, I fully believe that, but then started to actually post relevant topics. Whatever caused him to flip his wig – I don’t know, and I don’t care. This topic isn’t about racism, or rights, but about being trolled into a flame war. Andreas has chosen to go back to his old and evil ways, and that’s his choice. He gets no more friendship or sympathy from me. You guys need to take a deep breath and really look at this situation, and realize you are being played.