(no subject)

[sophistry]

Okay. So I haven't said a peep about the current Racefail: Round Whatever, because, although I have been following it to the best of my ability, I am probably the dumbest, least perceptive, least articulate, and whitest-privilege-y (sdflkjsadf IRELAND, WHY SO WHITE) person I know when it comes to stuff like this. I am quite certain that as soon as I open my mouth, however well-intentioned it may be, I will inadvertently make a giant ass of myself.

That said?

Theresa Nielsen Hayden reacts. Complete with deletion of (IMO) polite and cogent dissenting comments.

Oh. My. God.

Just.

Holy shit.

Comments

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

The deletion does actually make sense in the context of TNH's known and longstanding comment moderation policies. I've been reading Making Light for years, and Boing Boing occasionally since TNH became the moderator there, and in that time TNH has repeatedly explained her theory that the way to keep comment threads civil is to alter or remove comments that are just on the borderline between civil or uncivil. In many (although not all) cases within the Making Light community (at least), this system works. She prefers to disemvowel rather than to delete comments (so people can squint and figure out what was said), but LJ doesn't offer that functionality.

That said... I saw the discussion in which PNH took part, and his contributions were not nearly as (a) well-argued or (b) inoffensive as TNH is claiming they were. Ugh, what an ugly mess.

[sophistry]

Well, just for context, here is a reconstruction of a thread in which all of spiralsheep's comments were deleted. I read most of the thread in question before it was deleted, and I can testify that what's been reconstructed at the above link is (to the best of my memory) accurate.

[sophistry]

And another, from here.

[sophistry]

And another, from further up in that same thread.

These are just a few of the ones I can pick out - and there are others I know are gone, but which I didn't manage to capture in the too-few page-saves I did.

/friendsfriends

[nextian.livejournal.com]

I've managed to get mine through by being so polite as to verge on sycophantic. But when I saw yours go I was like thirty seconds from throwing up.

UGH I REALLY RESPECT AND LIKE THESE PEOPLE WHY CAN'T THEY SEE BASIC SENSE

Re: /friendsfriends

[sophistry]

I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW EVEN THEY CAN BUY THE WAY THEY THEMSELVES ARE ACTING.

(Also, ahaha, don't worry. I kept* screencaps*.)