What are the moderation guidelines for the political landscape?

Sometimes I post on the political landscape forum, specifically regarding topics involving Josip Perkovic and Stjepan Mesic. I try my best to stay on track and focus on the subject matter rather than attacking other users, but honestly, it feels impossible.
No matter what I write about, everything eventually devolves into petty personal bickering.
The biggest offender is Jerry Robinson56—he calls me a Tuđman supporter for absolutely no reason and constantly derails the conversation away from the actual topic at hand.

The moderators don't step in; people post there like the mods don't even exist. Occasionally Aunt Elza might pop in to check things out, but Lorenzow quickly chases her off, so the moderators are essentially invisible.

Look, I get it. People insult each other, launch personal attacks, and swear like sailors, but a few of us still manage to maintain some semblance of a real discussion.

Just a little while ago, I noticed my last post in the Josip Perkovic thread was deleted. The moderator gave me a warning about not bringing up anyone's parents—but I wouldn't dream of mentioning anyone's parents on this forum, let alone insulting them.

Right above that moderator warning, there’s a post where another user calls me a clerical fascist and several other names—yet that post hasn't been flagged, deleted, or penalized. So, I’d like an explanation: Why was my post removed?
And when have I EVER brought up someone's parents?

I've gone ahead and reported that specific post since it seems like they've started moderating again, though the logic behind it is completely bizarre.

Is it really that hard to just tell me who deleted my post and why?

And what’s with these fake accusations about bringing up people's parents? You’re leaving up posts that are actually offensive, though.

Are you guys prepping some kind of penalty for me? Is this just the warning shot?

As I was mentioned in this thread—to put it briefly—every beginning is inherently difficult. It becomes significantly more taxing when you are facing an opponent on the other side who finds it effortless to anticipate your every move. It is truly a shame that this discussion has unfolded in such a manner.
redorca13 redorca13, you really ought to consider evolving your ego through a bit of deep exegesis. It failed to take root. What was intended as a serious exegesis—a rigorous, scholarly debate—has instead devolved into nothing more than a mockery. redorca13 I am forced to make this observation simply because the content at that link is no longer accessible. I attempted to engage in a transcription session with rustydrifter10 to see if we could reach some form of reconciliation, but I was met with a blunt and quite correct response: this particular subject matter is not open for debate.
Nevertheless, my approach was both assertive and velvet-smooth.

Are you actually sleeping with Mesic? Because the way you praise and defend him makes it seem like he’s your own flesh and blood.

I assume you're under the impression that there is some sort of financial incentive driving my contributions here. It is a rather bold assumption, though I suppose in this day and age, one shouldn't be surprised by such cynicism. Truthfully, I find the notion quite amusing. I am simply here to provide my perspective, regardless of what anyone else might imagine my motivations to be. And you have the audacity to offer me discretion?
The core arguments are laid out right there in the link I provided. Do try to actually read the material instead of just typing away aimlessly.Even if you've been compensated for your performance, I would ask that you show some consideration for those of us attempting to engage in a serious discussion.

Come on, redorca13, step up your game. Be more obvious and more eloquent.

What exactly am I envious of?
Is this just more of your desperate attempts to suck up to Mesic? And what exactly kind of emotions am I supposed to weave into this jealousy?
Regarding that matter—I find myself feeling quite envious of you. You seem to be constantly sucking up to Mesic, and doing so with nothing more than the very fingertips you use to type. Should I actually consider myself jealous?

It’s confirmed. They are paying.
Just because you derive some sort of enjoyment from being a paid, deceitful hack doesn't change the fact that you are nothing more than a mercenary.

Are you truly as unwell as everyone seems to claim?

Take a look at this paid shill, Jerry Robinson56.He is constantly hunting for transcripts of various shows on YouTube, but it is a futile endeavor. Even when you provide him with the direct link and meticulously note the exact timestamps for every topic discussed, he remains entirely indifferent to the information. He simply does not care.

Regarding that final sentence, you've missed the mark entirely. Your impression isn't what was actually said, if you follow me.
How am I supposed to provide you with any semblance of direction if you aren't even aware of what you’ve heard?
I have already provided both the video link and that explanatory breakdown from about eighteen months ago, exactly as you requested.

To put it briefly, I expect some sort of defensive commentary will follow. It isn't because I have explicitly branded him a "Tuđmanist"—I haven't directly labeled him as such—but rather because of his fundamentally psychotic pattern of denial and obstructionism. One must distinguish between the two: being a "Tuđmanist" describes a specific state of consciousness, whereas a mere admirer would simply be called a Tuđmanophile. Zoran’s behavior falls into the latter category. Perhaps I should finally be compensated for having to deal with these accusations of slander and libel, or perhaps we could simply reach an agreement. 😁There is absolutely no sense in penalizing someone for making infantile remarks. However, I would advise you to be quite precise with your response; we are venturing into rather dangerous territory here.

Regarding your comment about the moderators... it isn't just a matter of having thick skin. It’s more that the vision becomes clouded; if they weren't strictly enforcing the rules, you could easily have people on either side of an argument handing out insults like candy as long as the platform allowed it. That said, I don't particularly care for Sam Green73. 🙂, they’re almost certainly correct, so you might as well just take the warning and be happy about it. Personally, I have zero patience for that kind of thing; I lose my temper immediately.

I shouldn't have even brought you up in the first place...

It’s impossible to have a real conversation with you. You start off with personal attacks, and once you bait someone into your trolling, you just won't let them go.

You were the one who called me a hardline partisan for no reason at all. I don't even know of a single time I've mentioned Franjo Tuđman on this forum.
I've talked about Mesic in the Mesic threads, and about Perkovic in the Perkovic threads.

When I pushed back against you labeling me a partisan, you pivoted to calling me jealous.

If I'm supposedly jealous of you while we're discussing Mesic—doesn't that imply you're close with him? What exactly am I supposed to be jealous of?
By the way, you seem to know more about Mesic than Mesic does himself. You claim things that even Mescic has never said, and then you present them as absolute facts.
Doesn't that also scream "insider"?
If I'm a partisan despite never writing anything about Tuman, then what does that make you? You spend almost all your posts defending and praising Mesic as the only decent politician left.
What gives?!

Look, I tried to settle this via DM so we wouldn't drown the rest of the users in this nonsense, but it was a waste of time.
Instead, you just started mocking me, saying I'm not worth talking to because I don't use special characters... not to mention all the insults you threw my way in private.

If the moderators here think you have the right to jump down the throat of anyone who disagrees with your take on Mesic—automatically branding them as backwards, stupid, or whatever else—then fine. I'll respect that, and I'll never bother debating you again.
It’s just impossible to argue with someone so resistant to facts, especially someone who thinks they can correct Mesic himself and knows his business better than he does.
If you're some kind of superstar on the American political landscape and the unofficial mascot for that group, there's nothing I can do except laugh at you.
I politely asked you in private to just write what you want without making it personal, but clearly, that was asking too much.

So, if the mods here think you're untouchable, who am I to challenge them? Enjoy yourselves!

But that doesn't give you the right to delete my posts when they don't break a single rule, and then lie about me bringing up people's parents.

To the moderators, I'm asking again:

Why was my post deleted?

I never brought anyone's parents into this, nor did I target anyone specifically.

If anyone here can actually show me what that deleted post said—and if I really was being disrespectful or inappropriate in it—then fine, I’ll walk away from this forum for good.

redorca13 said:I was mistaken to even mention you in the first place...

It is impossible to have a rational discussion with you. You initiate things with personal attacks, and once you lure someone into your specific brand of trolling, you refuse to let them out.

You were the first to label me a Reagan loyalist, completely without justification.

When I grew weary of being repeatedly branded a Reaganite, you pivoted to calling me jealous.

If I am supposedly jealous of you while we are discussing Mesic, doesn't that imply a certain proximity to him? Or what exactly am I meant to be envious of?
Furthermore, you seem to possess more knowledge regarding Mesic than Mesic himself does; you assert things that even Mescic has never stated, presenting them as absolute facts.
Does that not also betray an unusual closeness?
If I, who have never written a single word in defense of Tuman, am considered a Reaganite, then what does that make you—given that most of your posts consist of defending and praising Mesic as the only honorable and worthy politician?
What is the logic there?!

I attempted to resolve this via private message, hoping to avoid drowning other participants in this nonsense, but it was futile.
Instead, you resorted to mocking me, claiming I am an unworthy interlocutor simply because I don't use certain punctuation marks... not to mention the array of insults you showered upon me in those private messages.

If the moderators here believe you have the right to jump down the throats of anyone who disagrees with your views on Mesic—automatically branding them as Reaganites, backwards, or dim-witted—then so be it. I will respect that dynamic and simply refuse to engage with you ever again.
It is difficult to debate someone so resistant to reality, someone who presumes to correct Mesic himself and claims to know more about him than Mesic does.
If you hold star status on the political landscape and serve as the personal trademark for that PDF, there is nothing I can do here except mock you.
On the private thread, I politely requested that you write whatever you wish, provided it remained professional and not personal, but it was useless.

So, if the moderators believe you are exempt from the rules that govern everyone else, who am I to challenge them? Enjoy yourselves!

However, that does not grant you the authority to delete my posts which violate no rules whatsoever, nor does it justify falsely accusing me of bringing someone's parents into the conversation.

You don't want me to post the private chat logs... which is fine, since doing so would technically violate the rules by exposing the full context.
I, however, am careful with my words. I have no intention of insulting others or flaunting my status as you do. In fact, I won't be writing anything else here; I have already said enough to demonstrate your profound detachment from reality—the massive discrepancy between what you claim and what actually is. If you look at our respective posts, it is clear you lack the ability to answer a simple "yes" or "no." If you cannot grasp that distinction, one cannot begin a serious debate with you. My comment regarding punctuation was only because one of those Reaganites claimed that "family" wasn't an American word. 🙄.

Here’s the link to the latest page of the Josip Perkovic thread:

Where you see Sam Green73’s warning from the moderator, that was actually my post—it's a warning issued to me, along with the accusation that I only avoided a 500-point penalty because he felt like being merciful.

Check out this post:

Or this one:

I get hit with personal attacks just for chipping in on a side discussion about the characters of criminal regimes. Pure ad hominem.
I even reported it, but nothing happened.

Instead, my post gets deleted, I get falsely accused, and then I'm threatened with a 500-point penalty—WHY?

redorca13 said:That warning from the Sam Green73 moderator? That was actually aimed at me. He basically accused me of only avoiding a 500-point penalty because he felt like being merciful.

Your post got nuked because it was totally off-topic.

My warning isn't just for you—it goes out to anyone else thinking about jumping back into this debate.
People have really started letting themselves go lately; just take a look at some of those unmoderated posts floating around.

Sam Green73 said:Your post was deleted because it's off-topic.

Consider this a warning to anyone else thinking about jumping into this discussion.
People are starting to act like they own the place—just look at the sheer amount of unmoderated garbage floating around here.

Look, I didn't insult anyone. I’m looking at the moderated posts, the unmoderated ones, and the ones that haven't been touched, and I honestly can't see any consistent logic behind how you moderate this place.

Sure, I veered slightly off-topic, but I wasn't disrespectful. Meanwhile, you left the comment right above mine untouched, which was a direct insult to me—and it came from the very guy who started this tangent in the first place.

I don't get how a post that clearly breaks the rules gets a pass, while mine—which follows every rule except being strictly on-topic—gets nuked. There are endless tangents in this thread where Josip Perkovic comes up, yet my post gets wiped and you just leave your own unrelated comment in its place.
Why didn't you delete the actual insults and post your warning there instead?

The way you're moderating makes zero sense.
Unless the goal is to silence everyone trying to have a civil conversation while letting the trolls and the jerks run wild.

Seriously, read the thread. If my post deserves to be deleted, then you should probably clear out 95% of this entire discussion, shouldn't you?

You let direct insults slide, but you delete my post, which actually relates to the subject matter...

Now I guess I'll just sit here and wait for your "superiors" to weigh in.

Hopefully, they show up soon.

P.S. Should I start reporting every single troll and insult I see?
And why do you leave a thread unmoderated for weeks, only to swoop in and enforce arbitrary rules out of nowhere?

rustydrifter10?

How am I supposed to make sense of the administration ignoring everything except the moderators?

Am I allowed to insult people and troll, but apparently not share my actual opinion on the topic being discussed?

If you look at the Josip Perkovic thread, you'll see people are still debating the exact same stuff that got me censored.

Even the moderator Sam Green73 is jumping right into those discussions.

Looking at all this, I get the feeling my post was nuked simply because I criticized communists and neo-communists—even though I didn't break a single rule.

Is criticizing communism and neo-communism banned on this forum?

redorca13 said:rustydrifter10?

I reached out to my go-to fashion expert, but they weren't around at the moment—hopefully, they'll get back to me soon with some insight!

Sam Green73 said:People need to stick to the topic on this forum.

I just wiped out some more nonsense. If that isn't enough, I’ve got plenty of other ideas for how the mods should handle the rest of these posts.

Look, if the topic is Perkovic—and specifically looking into him because of old communist crimes and their secret service activities—how am I supposed to avoid talking about communism and those agencies?

I don't know what kind of garbage you deleted, because if this is still up:

The debate shifted from the nature of communism straight to attacking ME. It's like they think I'm the embodiment of evil instead of just someone expressing an opinion in a discussion.

And what about the hate speech in that post? People literally justifying mass atrocities as "revenge."
In what country, under what legal system, is revenge actually permitted or encouraged?

Get it?

My post, which added zero value and certainly didn't turn the debate into a personal shouting match, gets flagged as nonsense. Meanwhile, you leave up posts that directly insult people and are filled with pure hatred.
Is that considered "staying on topic"?

An unmoderated thread is better than one where moderation is completely arbitrary.
If a moderator actually shows up, they should be de-escalating things, not picking sides and cranking up the tension.

It’s pathetic that on the political landscape, you can't criticize anyone without being hit with personal insults—being called a fascist, a Nazi, low IQ, or just generally questioning someone's mental capacity—or dealing with those annoying "us vs. them" divisions.

I'm going to give myself a ban for a few days and stay away from the politics section for my own sanity.
I'll be using the ignore button liberally.🙂

Do whatever you want.

redorca13 said:It’s funny how this conversation shifted from discussing the actual nature of communism straight into an interrogation about ME. It’s like I’m suddenly being treated as some walking embodiment of everything wrong with the system, rather than just a guy expressing his own opinion in a debate.

The real issue here isn't the character of communism.

So, there’s another card for the pile. Is that enough for everyone now?

Sam Green73 said:The issue isn't the nature of communism.

Another ban, huh? Is that enough for you now?

🤣🤣

😂😂😂

Do you feel even a tiny bit of shame for how you moderate? Any at all? A single shred?

I wasn't asking for more bans; I was asking for an explanation from someone above you regarding your horrific moderation.
And if it’s even possible, I want someone to step in and put an end to this style of management.

Your bias doesn't just sting—it’s blindingly obvious.

Look, if my posts are being deleted because they're "outrageous," or punished because they're labeled "trolling," then what does that say about everything else posted here?
Listen, "dear moderator," go read through the last few pages of the Josip Perkovic thread and then decide which criteria you're actually going to use—then stick to them.

Or just issue a formal warning and apply the rules, the standards, or whatever it is you claim to follow. What you're doing right now just confirms my suspicion: you only stepped up to moderate because people are criticizing communism and neo-communism.

Where have you guys been all this time? It's not like I haven't reported insults and trolling before, but I gave up because nobody ever reacted.
After looking through some private messages with certain moderators, I realized that managing this thread, much like the one about Mesic, isn't anyone's priority. So, I stopped reporting insults and just avoided arguing with people who only exist to insult others.
But as you can see, some people just show up to spit on everyone, throw insults, and then vanish.
And honestly, there's no point in debating with people who don't share my perspective anyway...

I have no idea; it seems all I managed to do was give you an excuse to target me.

I sent you PMs that you ignored, which makes you look even worse and makes me lose any faith in the places where you "moderate."

Best,

redorca13 said:Look, if my posts are getting nuked because they’re "off-topic" or if I'm catching heat for "trolling," then what on earth are we supposed to do about everyone else's posts?
Listen, dear moderator, maybe take a quick look back through the last few pages of this Josip Perkovic thread before you decide which rules to enforce—then just stick to them.

Can't you see that other people are getting flagged for the exact same stuff that got you flagged?

First you complain that there's zero moderation going on, and then you turn around and whine the second someone actually starts moderating. 🤷

Sam Green73 said:Can't you see that other people got warnings for the exact same thing you did?

First you complain about a lack of moderation, then you whine when someone actually moderates. 🤷

If you had any sense, you'd just read the thread title.

Now, try reading my last post—the one right before this—and tell me if you actually get what I’m complaining about.
Best move is to just wait for a head moderator to step in, since rustydrifter10 apparently doesn't want to "interfere" with this "our" little problem.

The issue is that you're moderating pointlessly and without any logic that I can see.

Unless, of course, your idea of moderation is defending communism and neo-communism at all costs.
Once you got tangled up in that, you started digging an even deeper hole by deleting posts and handing out warnings—and now you're playing dumb, acting like you can't even read the thread title.

How long is this going to go on? And for what purpose!?

I guess we're all idiots now, especially me, because you went ahead and slapped me with a warning despite all my protests. What, do you want a thank-you note?

Whatever—thanks for the useless warning!

You still have zero criteria...

Where were you? Nowhere.
What did you achieve? Nothing.

Anyone know who this "super moderator" we're all waiting for actually is?

Why on earth would I feel the need to join this crowd? I’m just going to say what’s on my mind, and if you don't like the sound of it, then go ahead—delete my posts or ban me, it honestly makes no difference to me one bit. It’s all water under the bridge at this point. I don't spend my time worrying about the moderators or the super-moderators; the only thing I truly answer to is God, yet some people here seem to be under the impression they've attained divinity. If I find myself unable to leave comments, well, then I can't, and so much for that. It isn't as if being part of this forum is my primary life goal, anyway.