My attention was drawn to this thread on a post about Ron Paul and his racist newsletters. Race is one of the hardest topics to discuss because it is so incredibly fraught, but this discussion just totally got out of hand.
Deshklok said, "I find Rockwell abhorrent. He's always been a bigoted racist. I have yet to read, hear or see anything remotely racist coming from RP. (I did see him storm out on Bruno and call him a queer because, well, he was being a disrespectful fag.)" Oh, don't go around dropping the f-bomb! That sentence could have ended with "disrespectful" and been perfectly fine. He needs to realize that no one will pay attention to the substance of an argument once the name calling starts.
Rashabon took offense to the slur and fought back, "Nice. A 'disrespectful fag.' Go fuck yourself you piece of shit racist and bigot." Rashabon was right to say something and tell this guy it's not OK to drop the f-bomb (and the person who submitted this thread was right to flag it for mediation, so thank you). But Rashabon crossed the line by calling him a "piece of shit" and telling him to "go fuck himself." This is not how you talk to people. Again, people ignore everything but the aspersions. Imagine if he said this to someone in a bar? He'd probably punch him right in the face. Also, if you call someone a racist and they are behaving like a racist, I think the "piece of shit" is already implied and doesn't need to be stated.
The fight just got worse from there (go check it out), with both of these gentlemen behaving badly. Nothing will ever result from a screaming match, and this is a lesson both of these people need to learn (Rashabon, for what it's worth, has been given many opportunities to clean up his act and treat other commenters with respect, but he seems incapable of behaving civilly in an argument.) They're welcome to scream at each other, call each other names, and make unprovable accusations all they wantâ€"they're just going to have to go do it somewhere else from now on.
A Few Notes & How to Submit Nominations
All decisions about commenter executions are final. There is no appeal, though bribery is sometimes acceptable depending on the severity of the offense and the amount of the bribe. Executed commenters may be allowed back after a suitable period of exile.
Because this process is to better the community, citizen's arrests for unruly commenters are welcome and encouraged. Executions can be based on a single incident or general and prolonged suckiness. Please submit your nominations to executions@gawker.com.
Please include your rationale for execution and a link to the specific comment (you can get the direct link by clicking on the comment's timestamp) for evidence. Any commenter who submits a successful accusation for execution will be rewarded and deputized with a gold star. Happy commenting, and watch the name calling!
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