Or, in this case- in the publicly-accessible venue he provides?

Take a look here, please. Just find and read my posts then you can easily backtrack from there and understand why I am asking.

In neither the initial nudge to get some members to lay off another member, or my admonishment of another member in the thread- that no one wants to hear compliments paid to a man who us destroying this nation- do I consider myself as having been unduly harsh.

My comments to the meddler- now that was harsh and I intended for it to be so.

Gentlemen, I'll not be challenged regarding my conduct in this forum. Almost everyone here appears to know this and to understand the principle of a man setting rules for his property.

I have slapped wrists and kicked asses and banned errant members in this place for more than two decades and I give more consideration to these things than I let on. I strive to be fair and I think, for the most part, I am fair, and in those instances where I realize I was wrong, I apologize, publicly and/or privately.

I don't know how to be any fairer or more just.

The rules and guidelines I have in place for members, I do not myself always adhere to. For instance- at will, I break the rule of 'no price checks'; the rule of no sales outside Classifieds; the rule of 'no politics in apolitical threads'. I break these rules as I please.

Having said that, I feel as I was relatively gentle all around in the thread I've linked to- until one of the members who got gently admonished decided to act like Ward Fucking Cleaver coaxing The Beav towards an immutable truth.

None of this is negotiable. I have the absolute, unquestionable right to set policy and choose whether or not I will follow my own guidelines. I do not say this in a bragging manner; I am saying, quite simply, that that is the way things are, and I doubt any man worth his salt takes kindly to being challenged in his own house.

I'm not looking for validation. Members are quite complimentary all the time, and the question in the subject line of this thread is rhetorical in nature. What it comes down to is that being challenged on this was so out of line, I feel the need to clarify this subject with the membership.

I have earned the right to conduct myself in the manner I choose in this forum and, as I said, even given this, I feel as if I am quite fair with members, and in those instances where I color outside of the lines, I feel no need- usually- to offer much at all in the way of explanation.

I’m surprised at jhe888’s poor judgement in that thread.

I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve come to the conclusion that you care for this place and will protect it at all costs, as gently or violently as necessary. I also believe you care for the members as well. Maybe some call it harshness but I’ve never known you to be unfair.

I know for certain that your eyes were on me a time or two.

Well now I've seen it.

I hope I'm not jumping too far into territory I don't belong in, I'm the first to admit I've got plenty of splinters in my own eyes.

Let's keep our eyes on the prize people. Let's attempt to focus on the important things. I feel heavily that we're already in WW3, and probably mid-way through the less-cold stages of our own CW2 (civil war 2). There is legitimate unease in the directions a lot of things are going these days, home and abroad. Tearing each other up and getting feelings hurt of words typed in haste is a bad route for us to take.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I’m surprised at jhe888’s poor judgement in that thread.

Ugh I'm not, he's pretty good at screwing up.

Para's doing just fine with the way he runs this place.

When I was newer I didn't make it a point to read every post that Para makes and at times I would run across one of his posts straitening someone out and think damn that was hard and direct but after looking a little further whatever was happening most of the time had been going on for awhile with many attempts to try and guide the member to do better then Para would finally get enough and enough is enough and what I was seeing was all the history between the two coming to a head.

you have to respect Paras effectiveness at running a tight ship. No one can ever say they weren't given many chances to learn and do better here.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve come to the conclusion that you care for this place and will protect it at all costs, as gently or violently as necessary. I also believe you care for the members as well. Maybe some call it harshness but I’ve never known you to be unfair.

I know for certain that your eyes were on me a time or two.

I've been admonished a time or two also.
Hopefully, I've learned not to step in it or poke the eagle.

Having said that, jhe888 is a valuable member here and I'm sure a little slap-down is just a minor disturbance in the force.

From my point of view, I know who has the keys to the kingdom. That's not often an issue. Maybe never.
Like it or not, it's one person, as far as I know.
We all make our own value judgements from time to time and life goes on.
Whenever I've become a bit combative here or think someone else has and realized it before saying something really stupid, I try to take a deep breath. Wait a day or a week before responding. Occasionally not responding at all.
My experience here as an observer is that management has been fair about falling on their sword if after reflection, that's the right thing to do.
If I feel otherwise, I know my options.

At a state park here in Florida, I had a Ranger ask me if I had seen a particular alligator. Big Bertha was 11’ and blind in one eye. I said “no”, then pointed across the pond we were standing in front of and said “that’s a pretty big alligator over there.” He said “I think that’s her. Hold on, I’m going to go poke it with a stick.” Two things I’ve always wondered:

One, why the heck did the Ranger, whom I had never seen before or since, think I knew the first thing about alligators?

Two, and more applicable here, why would anyone poke the alligator with a stick?

“Why would you poke the alligator with a stick?” was my first thought, when I read the post in question.

As one posting in that thread, I would like to think that for most of the forum, a nudge is enough juice to knock it off.

Nope, jhe knew exactly what he was stepping in and did it anyway. Oh well. We all makes our choices. He'll get over it.

jhe888's came across smart-alecky and were I or anyone else to make a similar remark in this forum to Para, I/they would fully deserve to be admonished and reminded of whose castle it is.

I appreciate the home that you provide. I think the vast majority of the membership knows to wipe its feet prior to entering.

"Publicly Accessible Venue", I understand why you used the term, but frankly it's a bit insulting considering what you have built and maintained, it is far more than a gathering location to many of us.

Much appreciated sir.

Tough love. This place rocks due to Para and members. So many forums suck these days but this place keeps rocking along. We all chose to participate in his domain. I’m good with his rules and enforcement. Keeps me visiting year after year and I appreciate that!

Not that my opine even matters, but no, I don't believe that the owner of the house has to follow the rules he himself set. It's his house, he can do whatever he wants, even breaking the rules that he makes his guests follow.

First, your house your rules. That is an absolute fact.

After that how you enforce those rules reflects how you view your guests in your house. If you view them as friends or equals I would imagine that would open the door to initial critique or criticism in both directions. Only upon sustained criticism or rule breaking would I personally show a friend or equal to the door.

However, this place is a public forum and not a house. You create the space but the members are the ones that are the difference between this being a forum and it being your personal blog. I would imagine that a mutual respect should exist for both sides.

quote:

Originally posted by CEShooter:
Only upon sustained criticism or rule breaking would I personally show a friend or equal to the door.

Who in this matter has been shown the door?

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
Not that my opine even matters, but no, I don't believe that the owner of the house has to follow the rules he himself set. It's his house, he can do whatever he wants, even breaking the rules that he makes his guests follow.

I couldn't have said it better.

JP

When you get a chance to respond, CEShooter, I have several more questions for you. I'm looking forward to your responses.

Judging by your signature line, I imagine you have no trouble holding your own.

I’ll just leave this here…

You asked the rhetorical question and in asking the question, you already have your answer.

Here's what I know about you, Para, you've caught yourself plenty of times and I have seen you apologized, Something that I have noted before that isn't the standard of most people let alone forum owners.

I am confident you will ultimately land on the right side of this issue as well and I have no idea which side is the right side, just that you'll confirm or correct yourself rightly.