Originally Posted by magiciansampras
I think you're conflating concepts. Saying that a FTer is an idiot and saying that an FTer makes good posts is not at all like saying particular moderation in a particular instance was good or bad. You don't see the difference?
It is exactly the same if you accept the premise that any post contending that a moderator erred is a personal attack. It is not a premise with which I agree but Randy does hold to that and therefore those are the rules here.
Under no circumstances could expressing appreciation of a particular moderation decision be considered a personal attack. It does not even imply that those decisions which you have not mentioned were bad ones.
In this particular case the moderators were faced with a very bad situation. On one hand, IMHO, they had a thread which had gotten out of hand to a degree which I have never before seen on F/T. On the other, a number of the posters were respected members who have excellent records here and, in some cases, personal friends of the moderators. (Indeed, some were my personal friends as well.)
That is why I felt that the moderators faced a very difficult problem and handled it excellently.