According to this thread, here is the place to address concerns. I have tried to resolve the issue by other methods, such as a recommedation.

Randy, I strongly believe that Travel Safety and Security has become an overly hostile sub-forum, one that is overrun by a few stalwarts who attempt to out shout all comers about TSA induced Armageddon. Now I know I run the risk of sounding like a whiney politically correct TSA fan, but please bear with me, because that is far from the truth. My major issue about the debate is that many of those same stalwarts are moderators (albiet of different forums), but are allowed "special" treatment to be overly vile and attack entire groups of people. And their non-mod croonies who espouse their same virtues, seem to also be allowed to extend the limits beyond normal FT standards, even when pushing personal agendas (like TSA videos, arrests, etc).

When I or others mention this in the sub-forum, we are encouraged to report the thread and notify the staff. Yet posts that an average person (beyond the TSA haters) would consider in poor taste, seem to perpetuate. I submit this one recent post as an example, but you could spend a few evenings in TS&S to see its sisters and brothers. Look to the left about the poster's agenda, to the center for his message. Is there any bias here?

I know the buck stops with you, so I throw this out for your consideration. Yeah, I am a newb here in the big scheme of the FT, but I really feel strongly about how allowing this to continue unchecked is harmful to healthy debate.

Thanks for listening.

Dan

the TSA forum is probably the extreme but in reality what you speak of is no different than most of the other forums I frequent

As a long-time participant, and a long-time poster (happily including many posts of content, not just argument), and a long-time believer in the value of free speech (including, but not limited to, arguments which are stupid, annoying and even over-the-line under FT standards), I will mention that I think the Security forum is perhaps the most interesting and most enjoyable forum on FT. I don't know of any other source for equivalent information, even though it is true that some people express harsh comments.

^

I'd also note that there are a number of TSA participants who quickly acquire of a reputation as "one of the the good guys" -- folks who can be objective about TSA's short-comings, while defending what they see as its strengths. However, we also have a number of "kool-aid drinkers," as well as the occasional member of the, "anything for security" crowd, and those are, rightly, lambasted. It is the latter, more than anything else, that have informed my opinion about TSA.

The TSS forum serves a valuable function at a number of levels, and is fine just the way it is.

It could be, and it should be, but it is not.

Ideally, this forum should have served for intelligent discussion of the TSA which, because of the prominence that FlyerTalk has, might have brought about some needed changes in that organization.

Mindlessly repeated mantras like "Kip Hawley is an idiot", or overboard exaggerations such as "Commies", "perverts", "wand rape", etc, have cheapened the forum to the point where it is impossible to take seriously anything posted there.

Unlike the OP, I do not blame the TS&S mods for this. It is true that a while back they ignored attacks on TSA employees which were in violation of the TOS but I don't believe that they gave other mods any more leeway than they did to non-mods. More than that, they have since adopted a policy of enforcing the TOS prohibition on attacks made against groups of employees.

The kinds of posts which I referred to above are not TOS violations and the mods have no valid reason to remove them. That does not mean that those posts are not harmful to FT as a whole and to the TS&S Forum in particular.

They are.

It is -- at least to me -- sad to see that such an excellent opportunity to have helpful discussions about this government agency has been wasted. Frankly, at this point, I think it is far too late to do anything about it.

^^ My sentiments exactly.

First of all, thanks for the post. I'm thinking this topic has come up before, re: TS&S. But I need to try and make a little more clear your concerns. Is this about the TS&S forum, or is this about moderators acting like members within the forum and being as aggressive in some topics as other members who are not moderators? The comments so far seem to focus on the TS&S forum and I'm just a little confused as why you thought it necessary to bring non-forum moderators in this. Seems to me the topic could have stood alone by itself.

Anyway, let's close this for now until the OP and I can exchange PMs to clarify what this topic is about, the TS&S forum, or moderators acting like members.

Thanks and we'll get back to the topic as soon as I hear from the OP as to exactly the topic is.