ozstamps

Your entire post appears entirely off-topic for this Forum - but you know that.

In answer to your off-topic questions my reaction would have been that was entirely the proper and correct course - assuming the person so deputised was not also standing for TalkBoard. Do you disagree?

To be able to outright ban a well spoken and intelligent competitor from a week's comment of any kind in a very tight race is a power I bet Mr Bush right now wishes he had. Do you disagree?

You may or not be aware of the specific "reason" given to the Member. If not perhaps go ask? I certainly did. You may be amazed.

Such a course surely would have been seen to that member, and to all other Members who were aware of it, to be at arm's length, impartial, and above any possibility of appearing to have any conflict of interest.

doc's recent time-out was not communicated to him by either Forum Mod, so clearly that was better thought out, and he was not even an election candidate.

Please be clear I am not saying, and have never said on FT there WAS a certain conflict of interest for a specific Candidate to ban another Candidate - I am simply responding to your hypothetical "what if". It was clearly a delicate matter, and surely required handling as such. Do you agree? And the reality is there are at least 50 Mods NOT standing for TB, most of whom were on FT this weekend.


You are only partially correct. 33% correct actually. She is one of three in case you had not noticed. Two are Talk Board candidates. Had she contacted the member I do not feel there could have been a conflict of interest at all - seeing you raise the question. Or even the possibility of an appearance of one. That is surely the important distinction? Do you agree?

For some other long term member's opinions on this very point - again seeing you choose to raise it, please see this thread where a number of senior members openly invited similar bans for speaking their mind on this matter, before that thread too was locked:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366159

As to whether Moderators should be running at all for TB, Randy seems quite happy with the concept, and has very recently said let the members decide how to vote, and NOT to vote for any Candidate where there is: "A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST".

This member most certainly took that wise advice at face value.