Also, spouting a bunch of non-constructive criticism about the board policy changes and Richie’s being alarmed at the General Discussion statistics don’t help your case much on wanting to do it for the better of the board. Half the time, you appeared to be just trying to bait Manny or one of the other staffers. Other members felt that was the case as well.

And again, your unwillingness to work with the staff doesn’t help your case either. Calling us power hungry elitists when we’re trying our best to make things right and okay again, really really does absolutely nothing to help. I wanted to help you because your fight (other than all the power hungry, conspiracy theory accusations) was similar to something I was trying to fight off back when Rushnerd was around. Unfortunately, I was met with a brick wall from you.

I think what bothers me the most about all the name calling and accusations is that you and I have never talked directly. I don’t know a thing about you and you don’t know a thing about me. I’m trying to remain open to the possibility that you mean well and I need to help you get that across, where as you shut the door on me a long time ago. I don’t believe we’ve ever had any direct dealings nor have I had any direct dealings with any of your friends concerning moderation. I don’t know how you could just shrug me off and file me away into one of your categories without knowing a thing about me or what I’ve also been trying to accomplish. I think the same could be said for a ton of the other staff members.

-Ms. Hometown Unicorn

But now down to business. First, I never acted purely out of selfishness, I protested against what I see as the staff abusing their power. The other members seemed to agree that my complaints were valid. So in my mind, I’m acting on behalf of the greater community. Am I wrong in that?

Second, ‘ego trips’? When did I say I single-handedly changed the board policy? I didn’t do anything other than walk off in a huff. It was entirely the other members’ comments that helped with the drafting. Richie himself said so. I knew that.

As for name calling and conspiracy theories… I can’t really say much there… It’s wrong. I know it’s wrong. If anyone talked like that about me, I’d be all up in their face. Which is what happened here, but in reverse… I apologize, and promise to have my discussions peacefully in the future. Fair enough?

EDIT: Ack, I hate when people post ahead of me. :P Anyway, yeah. I guess I learned today that if you post something on the Internet, don’t leave anything open to interpretation. Tone-of-voice can’t be sent through the Tubes.

And whether you think you’re guilty of using insults or not is beside the point at the moment, just take special care not to say anything that might be misinterpreted as an insult if this is so. If not, just avoid insulting outright. It isn’t getting us anywhere. The board just needs levelheaded discussion about the problems to solve them, not hostile comments.

That said, don’t stop trying to get things to change for the better. We need change like that. Just state your arguments as nicely as you can. Be disgustingly nice if necessary. :P Just keep on working to make things better.