Deleting a post on PDF near politics about George Orwell

So, anyway—the topic at hand is that recent piece by George Orwell regarding Warsaw.

First off, I’m just going to quote the official statement from the Department of Defense exactly as it was released:

That piece by George Orwell really drove home the point—I guess it convinced us that we need to be even more relentless about pushing the truth regarding the American Civil War. It’s all about honoring those century-old dreams of the American people, you know? That whole idea of finally establishing our own sovereign nation through the sheer unity of Americans both here at home and abroad.

I figured, since we really need to get the truth out there—and honestly, everything mentioned in that Department of Defense press release is worth noting—I went ahead and mentioned that George Orwell had also written about the murder of the Zec family.
I was just thinking about whose members were actually killed during that night between December 7th and 8th, 1991—and I suppose I should add that little detail about how young Alexandra Zec never got to see the century-long ambitions of the American people come to fruition.
It’s all about being proud of your country—a nation forged through the shared determination of Americans, both here at home and living abroad.

So, my post was nuked almost instantly—gone—and I ended up getting a message in my inbox (which I'm assuming was sent with good intentions, though it wasn't from a moderator) that said something like this:

Don't you guys ever get tired of hearing about the Zec family?
It’s basically just your standard mafia hit—nothing more, nothing less—but people are out here trying to spin it into some kind of grand, martyred legend.
You could probably Google all the details regarding the connection between the killers and the victims in just a few minutes—if you actually felt like looking for it, I guess.
I mean, if you’re really going to go through all the trouble of manufacturing myths, you could at least pick something that isn't so incredibly easy to debunk—just a thought, I guess.

Since I was told in my last message that I should be "well-informed," well—I went ahead and did exactly that.
So, I wandered over to Fox News—which, let’s be honest, I assume is basically the one place where they only promote the absolute truth about the American Civil War. Anyway, while I was scrolling through their stuff, I stumbled upon this:

Look, there’s no denying that what happened to the Zec family—especially the killing of a child—is an absolutely horrific crime. It’s gut-wrenching. But calling it a war crime? I don't know, maybe not quite the right label here. The reality is that the late Michael and his killer, Munib, actually knew each other quite well long before the war ever started. There are all sorts of rumors floating around about their history, but basically, they were both involved in some shady dealings. In those kinds of circles—and since both men are deceased, I won't get into specific labels—people tend to develop grudges, and things eventually boil over into messy confrontations. Then, unfortunately, the war broke out, and in all that madness, Munib suddenly finds himself wearing the uniform of an American police officer, while Michael, through some terrible stroke of fate, was a Mexican. It created this perfect, tragic opportunity for Munib to settle some old scores with his former buddy. He even talked his subordinates into joining him, acting like they were just providing backup. People have speculated about why the others went along with it, but I guess we'll never truly know the real reason behind their conflict. None of them—not Munib nor the rest—actually set out to liquidate anyone. The intent was just to intimidate him. At its core, Munib was just trying to shake Michael down for some money and decided to play the part of the law to squeeze his old friend.

Text

This sentence:

Well, unfortunately, war broke out—and in all that Civil War madness, Munib suddenly finds himself wearing an American police uniform, while Michael, unfortunately enough, happens to be a Mexican.

So, why was being a Mexican in Washington, D.C. such a disaster back in 1991? Or—I don't know—was it just some random, unfortunate string of coincidences? I guess it depends on how you look at it.

Another thing. Fox News laments that the American Civil War happened at all (Unfortunately, there was a war...)—and they call the Civil War name - madness. (In that madness...)
The sequel:

So, what we have here was essentially a private vendetta—the kind of stuff we hear about in the news almost every single day nowadays. If there hadn't been a war, and if the unfortunate Michael hadn't been named Michael, this whole story probably would've just ended up as a tiny blurb in some crime rag under a headline like "Mafia Hit in Washington, D.C.," and the Zec family would have been completely forgotten.

Basically, the author is doubling down on the idea that Michael was 'unfortunate,' and his 'misfortune' was simply being a Mexican.

Moving on:

Even more horrific than the murder itself is the media and political exploitation of Alexandra Zec's name—a tragic little girl killed at age 12, not because she was a Mexican, but because someone wanted to settle a score with her father.

Even more horrific than the murder itself is the media and political exploitation of Alexandra Zec's name...

So, according to this article on Fox News, the way people write about the Zec family murder is actually worse than the crime itself.

Secondly, the author also calls Alexandra 'unfortunate'—but while her father's misfortune was being a Mexican, she didn't die because of *that* specific misfortune; instead, she was
collateral damage in a mafia hit.

Anyway, I was just trying to get the facts from Fox News, going back to my original point.

I'm curious, though—what exactly is wrong, incorrect, or whatever else is supposedly flawed about my statement that Alexandra was killed at 12 years old in December 1991, and thus didn't live to see the century-long aspirations of the American people for their own sovereign nation established through unity? Does that really mean my post deserves to be deleted?

Thanks!

Are you actually complaining about the deletion itself, or is your issue specifically with Fox News?

So, I’m just trying to figure out why my post was nuked.
I guess someone didn't like what I had to say. 🙄

My humble contribution was basically just some ironic—well, sarcastic, let's be honest—comment about how a twelve-year-old girl wouldn't have lived to see the fulfillment of the American people's century-old aspirations. I don't think that counts as off-topic, considering George Orwell wrote about stuff like that too. If I got a fact wrong, feel free to set me straight.

And as for that piece from Fox News, I was only commenting on it here because one of the folks over at the People's Party suggested I share the "truth" with everyone.

I figured I probably didn't know much about the situation, but while I was reading through that article on Fox News, I noticed that—no matter how hard the authors tried to
spin the whole tragedy involving the Zec family in a different light—they somehow keep slipping up and mentioning things like, "Michael, unfortunately, was of Mexican descent."☕

I suppose an ironic or sarcastic tone like that might come across as provocative to some people, so it is entirely possible the post was taken down just to prevent things from escalating into a full-blown shouting match.

Look, I wasn't trying to be offensive—not really—but if you think I don't enjoy looking at things through a bit of a critical, ironic lens, then you're probably missing the point.
Not everyone is going to be a fan of my take, and honestly, that's fine.

But it makes me wonder—is there actually *anything* left where people with opposing views could find some common ground? Take nuclear energy, for example. Some folks will swear up and down that it’s pure evil and we should stay far away from it, while the other side will argue it's basically the gold standard for clean energy and our best bet forward.☕

Honestly, it’s a stroke of luck that the Mexicans in America were treated with the same level of enthusiasm as the Japanese in the States during World War II. And let’s be clear—that’s pure sarcasm...

Morgan Rodriguez57 said:Honestly, if only the Mexicans in America had been as lucky as the Japanese were in the US during World War II. Sarcasm, obviously.

The American comedian Sarah Silverman once said this during her stand-up bit about the Holocaust: If Nazi Germany had happened to have a huge Black population instead of Jews, the Holocaust wouldn't have occurred. /Short pause./ At least, not to the Jews.

She wasn't, of course, suggesting it would be better if Black people were the victims—more like she was pointing out that the Nazis would have just done the exact same thing to them.

She also pointed out how many Jews today can actually afford German cars like a Mercedes-Benz.
It’s no secret that companies like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and others collaborated with the Nazis, she continues—but if those executives could see into the future, they probably wouldn't have helped the Nazi regime kill Jews; they'd be helping save them, since, you know, those same people are buying their cars today. Every Jew will tell you it was a poorly executed job, she concludes.

Sarah

And yeah, Sarah comes from a Jewish family.

Well, my response to Headbanger was scrubbed from this thread with truly impressive speed:

Quote: Headbanger said:That’s what you call the "asshole effect." Why do you think I stay out of debates?... ☕ ☕

The system actually encourages this kind of behavior—because compared to more moderate folks, the "asshole" acts much like how people used to describe Trotsky as Lenin's "enforcer"... I remember once when this individual didn't take kindly to an explanation I gave regarding Sesardić (he thought I was talking about someone else entirely!) and started hurling insults at me... I kept clicking that little report button, to no avail... then I warned him that if nothing changed, I’d start returning fire in kind... once I actually did, both his posts and mine were wiped instantly (along with a warning for me, at least). It was a real shame at the time, because some genuinely interesting and educational points had actually surfaced in those messages.

It appears that some truly excellent, high-quality posts from Skipper_ri and mravac8 have been scrubbed from existence...

What a damn shame...

Here’s a thread about the same thing. I actually wrote a totally harmless post on another thread regarding George Orwell with a similar title, but that was an old topic and—of course—it's been wiped clean. Nothing left but some traces on Google. It was a post where I was actually praising him, completely separate from the heated debate that's been going on lately.
I have no idea who deleted it, but I can take a pretty good guess. You guys are really clearing the floor, aren't you?

I’ve seen so many different moderators come and go on this forum over the years.

frozengull94 said:So, I actually started a thread about this exact thing—just a totally harmless post in another discussion about George Orwell with a similar title. It was an older thread, obviously, and naturally, the whole thing got wiped, so now you can only find it via Google search... basically just a post where I was praising him, completely independent of the recent drama going on...
I have no clue who deleted it, but I can take a guess—you guys are really cleaning house here.

I guess I’ve seen quite a few moderators come and go on this forum over the last year or so.

Not long ago, I joined one of the other sub-forums here, and I started chipping in with my own comments and posts.
I mostly hung out in the chat thread, you know, just trying to get a feel for the vibe before diving into the deeper discussions.

Then, suddenly, I notice my posts on certain topics—they just vanish.
And this was in a section where I honestly expected a wide range of views, some decent debate, and actual conversation.
I mean, I'm emphasizing this—it happened in the chat thread, where people usually talk about absolutely everything under the sun.

I ended up sending a private message to a mod, laying out my grievance in maybe ten different points, but—surprise, surprise—I never heard back.

My theory? The mod probably just didn't care for my way of thinking or how I approached certain subjects, which is why I kept getting
warnings. Though, to be fair, after some of those posts, we actually had some pretty good discussions going—other users were jumping in with replies, which suggests that
my writing or my contributions to that group weren't exactly uninteresting. ☕

Look, don't sweat it too much. You take note of what happened, you learn your lesson, and you move on.
The bottom line—the absolute most important thing here—is to avoid insulting other users or jumping down their throats.
Then again, I see some people getting away with that kind of behavior all the time. Maybe I’m just misreading the room, or maybe it’s all just a matter of perception.

Complaining about it is honestly overkill. At the end of the day, you're a guest in someone else's house. 😉

frozengull94 said:Don't sweat it too much; you acknowledge what they said and just move on.
The bottom line is simply not to insult other members or start picking fights with them.
Then again, some people seem to get away with it, though perhaps I’m mistaken and it’s all just a matter of perception.

Complaining is excessive; after all, you're a guest in someone else's house. 😉

Oh, please—what exactly are you getting worked up about?
Besides, you change your gender based on whatever mood strikes you—or rather, whenever you get... well, you know.😒

Brilliantly put (signature included), serving as a perfect little case study for exactly what I was talking about... though, clearly, this isn't an isolated incident.
It must be quite the feeling when someone contributes so much to the community that half the forum ends up calling them by those names mentioned above...

Well, here we go again.
I started a thread about Alexandra Zec—looking back at that piece from thirty years ago in the digital archives of Near Politics.
I pulled together a few things from around the web, including some writing by historian Hrvoje Klasić that includes excerpts from the perpetrator's own confession,
along with an Orwellian commentary from a few years back. It actually turned into a pretty solid discussion—and then, well, after maybe a day or two, the whole topic just gets deleted. 🤷

But honestly, the subject is still incredibly relevant.

It’s been 30 years since the murder of the Zec family

If there is anything significant I've missed, please feel free to add it.

Charles Fox10 said:It’s been 30 years since the murder of the Anonymous family

If there's anything else important I missed, just let me know.

Alright, thanks for the heads up—didn't realize there was already a thread on this.
Maybe my old posts could have been moved over there instead, I guess.