http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope
When a clear chain of logical relation is not established, slippery slope goes from an argument to a fallacy. They are only going to have to start banning others left and right if suddenly a lot more members start acting like ignorant fuckwits.
Your argument assumes that there is a set-in-stone definition of "ignorant fuckwit." To you it seems to mean somebody that expresses derision toward certain people groups. I would be more likely to use the term to describe somebody who criticizes a forum admin for insufficient censorship and banning. And I'm sure if you asked twenty different people, you'd get twenty different definitions. So the "banning left and right" would be to accommodate all the different definitions.
I haven't seen a high volume of hate speech on the same level as the_musician's, so if you could please cite some legit posts that would be deleted unnecessarily, I will reconsider your viewpoint.
You made reference to other to other TMF members as trolls, ignorant fucks and ignorant fuckwits. That's at least as hateful and disparaging as "******," and in my opinion a lot more so. But I don't believe either example of hateful speech should be censored because such speakers quickly develop a reputation for it and will be ostracized by the community at large. In my opinion that's a sufficient enough deterrent.
I'm not sure if you were aware of The_musician's first post before it was edited, but it certainly contained hateful speech. It did not contain "hateful speech," as in this-speech-is-open-to-interpretation, it had several unnecessary derogatory slurs. If every post that was written that way resulted in a ban we would not have a double edged sword, but fair and consistent enforcement of the rules.
We'd also be minus the pleasure of your participation due to your repeated use of the derogatory slur "ignorant fuckwits." And that is a perfect example of the double edged sword of which I speak.
From the Golden Rules post- "And to get this out of the way in advance, yes there is censorship on the TMF. Posts that do not abide by the Golden Rule, in the opinion of the administrative staff of the TMF, will be removed and people who frequently make such posts will risk having their posting privileges revoked."
I'm not denigrating the admins for not complying to my personal standards. I'm doing it because they seem to lack any standards at all. The phrase "in the opinion of the administrative staff" should mean that they have final say over what is and is not allowed. Apparently in this case it means that they reserve the right to stand back and do nothing.
It means both, actually. More importantly it means that THEY are the ones to determine which posts warrant deletion and which members warrant disciplinary action. Not you and not me.
Allowing homophobic or racist speech on a forum where people are supposed to be able to go to be free from judgement is just plain sad.
How can anybody be free from judgment when all they have to do to earn it from you is to use unapproved terminology?
"Musician, since you've committed the heinous act of using a hateful and disparaging slur, I'm going to respond by labeling you with a hateful and disparaging slur."
Can't you see this glaring double standard?
Also, my post is not trolling. Trolling is posting inflammatory content with no goal other than to achieve a largely negative response.
In that case, one must know the goals of the poster before one can play the troll card. I'll tell you what. I'll concede I don't know your goals if you'll concede you don't know the musician's goals.
The_musician posted inflammatory content that was not constructive in any way, and his spelling and grammar are so bad that it leads me to believe he might not even be serious, but rather he's doing this to disrupt the community.
Seriously?? You equate bad spelling and grammar with a deliberate attempt to disrupt the community?? I thought I'd heard it all, but this is the first time I've heard anybody list spelling and grammar as supporting criteria for banishment.
I posted to try and show other members that the_musician is not the problem, but rather the fact that he is allowed to stay here and continue making offensive threads for no other reason than provoking a negative response. If the_musician wants to call people faggots he can go to /b/ where it's encouraged, but it shouldn't be tolerated here.
I'm not familiar with the musician's history, and I'm not defending his comments. All I'm saying is that we should leave it up to the moderators to determine what to do about other posters and their comments. Report anything you believe to be a violation and leave it at that.
It should also be noted that the administration of this forum generally doesn't favor public hangings. For this reason, the vast majority of disciplinary action toward any member goes unseen by the rest of us. Just because The Musician might still be around, that doesn't mean he's getting off scott free.
... feeding the trolls by trying to answer these posts (guilty as charged) 
