Jeroen wrote: > At 17:45 2-2-02 -0600, Dan Minette wrote: > > >It is clear to me, from Jeroen's posts, that he feels that Eileen and he > >already have the right to banish anyone they deem necessary. > > No, we have the *power* to banish someone. Please note that I have > repeatedly stated that none of the listowners would banish someone without > discussing the matter with the entire community first.
Unfortunately, the warning/threat to JDG and resulting discussion produced in many of us the impression that banishment was considered to be a right as well as a power. That's why there's been such a sh*t-storm regarding this - while you and Eileen have since stated what your reasoning was, and have proclaimed the motivations behind the warning/threat, the immediate impression was of a rather heavy-handed attempt at silencing someone with a differing viewpoint. > The purpose of the police metaphor was to get you people thinking about the > difference between a warning and a threat. Unfortunately, nobody seems to > have gotten the idea. Then your choice of metaphor came unfortunately close to the impression that some of us had already received - that you and Eileen felt you had the right to issue warnings of the type given to John, and that it was your prerogotive to sumarily dismiss listmembers on what seemed a whim. As I stated above, you've clarified your position to refute that impression, but the fact remains that the initial understanding of the warning was that it was a threat of dismissal. For the record, I don't think that your behavior in this or other debates has been as angelic as you make it out to be. I also don't think John has a good track record of letting things go when the debate degenerates, but you bear as much responsibility as John for the debate continuing as long as it did. At any point you can say, "OK, this is not productive. I'm not going to discuss it any more." You notably failed to do so, therefore the understanding could be gleaned that you *wanted* the debate to continue. Adam C. Lipscomb [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft." - Teddy Roosevelt
