Our TTAG Douche du Jour
MechWolf

Up until today, The Truth About Guns has only had to ban one tr0ll from our site. At the time, we really thought we’d be able to get through life without banning anyone, but the doggedly-dogmatic and infinitely infantile rantings of JadeGold made that impossible. So we’re a year-and-a-half into a site that’s growing by leaps and bounds, and here we are, having to use the nuclear option again. Sigh… As of this evening MechWolf has joined TTAG’s History Team (JV Squad).

Our (former) pal Mech is a 41-year-old West Virginian who likes Hi-Points, and has a penchant for hyperbole and an unfortunate tendency to spewĀ invectivesĀ when angry. Which is apparently all the time, at least as far as TTAG goes. As your sysAdmin, I get to read everything on the site, even the stuff that doesn’t make it past the censors and into prime time.

TTAG is fearless when it comes to posting comments and editorials and letters and news articles from people who disagree with our general pro-gun rights stance. Look at MikeB2000 ā€“ I’d venture a guess that “once in a blue moon” is about as often as most of TTAG agrees with what he has to say. Yet we don’t ban him. Magoo? He’s also welcome here. Both commentators are intelligent and respectful: a vital part of the TTAG’s commitment to avoid being an echo chamber.

We have a simple policy regarding comments on this site: no flaming. No flaming the website, its authors or fellow commentators. Commentators are free to disagree with anything written or said by anyone, but they must not make it personal. We will not tolerate personal attacks.

We warned MechWolf repeatedly to reign it in. We invited him to make his points about the Hi-Point review without flaming the writer. We assured him that the gun is getting a a second review and offered to address the issue of editorial bias off-line (RF prefers to keep the comments section focused on the article rather than questions of editorial stance and style, which he will discuss at [email protected]).

MechWolf chose to escalate the situation, moving straight to threats, attempted intimidation, and name-calling. And so from now on, MechWolf is unwelcome on this website. As will anyone else who decides to vent his frustration without an ounce of common decency.

Anyone else is most welcome to join in the ongoing debates, from any perspective, safe in the knowledge that they may do so without being personally attacked for their views.

33 COMMENTS

  1. Perhaps, he has found a bridge with like minded ilk to be with,….

    Did you say West Virginia?

    nevermind,….

    • That’s a statement made by somebody that apparently knows…..
      I guess it’s OK to kick people when they are down, or in this case can’t defend themselves. Such bravery, you all are my heroes!
      These last few comments and the fact that he had to be made a public spectacle to me is all flaming. But I guess the twofaced attitude here goes right along with the snottiness about anything that doesn’t reside in your own gun safe.

  2. Ding dong the troll is dead.

    Some people just can’t take a hint, no matter how diplomatic we try to be with them.

    • Then make sure we can’t find any unflattering pics on the Interwebz. A quick search for “MechWolf” and “Hi-Point” turned up that little masterpiece, along with a bio. I could have dug deeper, and, I suspect, found as much info as we have on JadeGold, but, why bother?

      • Well, seeing how my avatar is an Asian gentleman modeling a “poop hat”, I guess I won’t have much room to complain if that fateful day ever arrives.

  3. i found all of the hyperventilating about the supposed awesomeness of hi point that the reviewer was somehow unable to see, most entertaining.

    hi point= geo metro

    • Geo Metro was a cheap, slow vehicle, but it was reliable, and it offered up honest value. I am not sure the HiPoint can say the same.

    • Not really sure where you came up with that word (awesomeness) in all the posts supporting Hi-points, but OK, if you want to put words into folks mouths. All that was ever mentioned was that they were inexpensive, they worked very well for 99.9% of the people that owned them, granted, they needed some tweeking at times, but I, for one, like working on my stuff, that they are accurate in the hands of anybody knowledgeable about how to properly hold and shoot a gun, and most importantly, I don’t recall anyone, anywhere, at any time, saying these guns are pretty. But like chrome on a Harley, pretty is just fluff and don’t always get the job done. My Hi-point works flawlessly. Go rent one and try it before you spout trash about something based solely on it’s price. OH, I forgot, the intelligent thing to do is base ALL your opinions on ONE piss poor review and some questionable Youtube reports. Like I said before…your village called.

  4. I go away for a few days to the land of no Internet to enjoy some family time and I come back to all that I’ve missed..

    I need to invest in a smartphone, though I loathe the idea of being ever-connected… Any recommendations from the AI to bring me into the modern age? (I’m with Verizon).

  5. “We have a simple policy regarding comments on this site: no flaming.”
    “We will not tolerate personal attacks.”

    Seems otherwise to me.

    I cite the comments by Cujo under this article as proof http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/05/benjamin-t-shotzberger/how-long-does-it-take-to-kill-a-terrorist-mastermind/

    CUJO THE DOG OF WAR says:
    May 7, 2011 at 4:46 PM

    Why so bitter? Did your boyfriend cut you off? I have the answer to your military service query above. Pull your head out and read it.

    CUJO THE DOG OF WAR says:
    May 7, 2011 at 10:48 PM
    Turn off the porn, put down the shop vac and consider acting like a man one of these days. Iā€™m going to sleep now with a real woman who doesnā€™t require inflation.

    CUJO THE DOG OF WAR says:
    May 8, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    Nope. Just a little bitch.

    All that allowed to stay while my comments – containing actual facts and logical arguments – were deleted (some might say censored) in real time.

    Don’t come out and talk about how open and welcoming you are when you’re anything but. Open and welcoming, maybe, if you tow the party line, are pro-State, and love government.

    • First of all CUJO has been warned about flaming, had comments deleted and become a productive member of the TTAG community. Second, some flames do slip through. If someone pings me on a flame, as MikeB302000 has, I respond immediately. Third, you’re kidding about being pro-state and love the government, right? I mean you have read, I dunno, one of the posts on the site? As in any one.

      Oh, and if you surround a “genuine” comment with flames, true enough: it may be toast. In any case, feel free to ping me directly at [email protected].

      • With the exception of the last month or so, I’ve been reading and commenting here for a little over a year.

        Seems to me that, while ragging on clueless legislators and asshat judges is the norm, whenever there’s something about military or law enforcement, an awful lot of flag waving and chest thumping goes on.

        • At the risk of taking this debate to a lower level, nuh-uh. We constantly report bad shoots by the police (check the Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day section) and their unthinking, unconscionable support of gun control measures. I just posted a blog on the Joliet police department’s low regard for due process. As for military chest thumping, yup, there was some of that when Obama’s minions assassinated Osama Bin Laden—and lots of comments criticizing the op.

          James, if there’s something we’re not doing right, why don’t you show us how it’s done? Submit an article to [email protected]. The floor is yours.

          • I say don’t change a thing, Dude. There are equal measures of lunatic, norm, agitated, and excitable on both sides of the table. Makes for a good read.

  6. “MikeB2000 ā€“ Iā€™d venture a guess that ā€œonce in a blue moonā€ is about as often as most of TTAG agrees with what he has to say. Yet we donā€™t ban him. Magoo? Heā€™s also welcome here. Both commentators are intelligent and respectful

    Brad, 2 points.

    1) Do you have any evidence to back up the last sentence of my quote from your comment (the portion of your comment in bold)?

    2) MikeB’s repeated libels of the shooting community as a whole are flames. Patrick, Cujo, RF, and myself are all part of the shooting community that MikeB has repeatedly mischaracterized as ignorant, bloodthirsty, trigger-happy and worse. The fact that MikeB is too cowardly to come right out and use our names does not mean he hasn’t insulted us.

    Given his track record of inflammatory comments about the shooting community, I hope you will be a little more rigorous about purging any of MikeB’s comments that TTAG’s regulars might feel targeted by.

    • “Given his track record of inflammatory comments about the shooting community, I hope you will be a little more rigorous about purging any of MikeBā€™s comments that TTAGā€™s regulars might feel targeted by.”

      I disagree. This is an open forum. People should have a chance to say how they feel whether you agree or not. I clash with Magoo and MikeB all the time but I wouldn’t come to this site for anything but a couple of articles about certain guns that interest me without that. The lively banter is what pulls us (at least me) back to this site. I enjoy the opposition. It gives one something to think about and if not, it gives you an idea of how other people think. We are not right in all we say because we are pro-gun. I feel it is good to be tempered by those naysayers. If you feel targeted you should probably fire back (words that is). We are all adults, right?

      • “We are all adults, right?”

        Adults discuss their disagreements face to face. Or comment to comment, in this case.

        Adults do not antagonize people and then send emails to the admin to ban the responses they generated. Sniveling cowards with inferiority complexes do that.

        • “Gunnutmegger says:

          June 2, 2011 at 7:13 AM

          ā€œWe are all adults, right?ā€

          Adults discuss their disagreements face to face. Or comment to comment, in this case.

          Adults do not antagonize people and then send emails to the admin to ban the responses they generated. Sniveling cowards with inferiority complexes do that.”

          lulz… you know some pretty stand up adults then, Dude. The only adults I know that are like that all the time are hardcore Pentecostals.

  7. What can I say? I’m on the Gary Busey 12 Step Program to Better Mental Stability…

  8. this site as a whole is becoming what the gun community is trying to stifle from within. A bunch of snobs that want it their way or no way. Well too bad folks. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad…. gun owners should know that better than anyone on this earth….or i should say at least…..real gun owners. Not a bunch of graphic artist that decided they’ve played enough video games to review guns.

  9. Well, I have to say it’s too bad this sort of thing happens. I can’t say that I haven’t gotten upset with people at times and said things that I later wished I hadn’t (especially after a few shots of rum . . okay, more than a few), but I would rather debate a point on the merits of the issue and not attack people.

    So, I have to commend TTAG for having the principles to do something like this and actually share it with all of us. And, I also have to say, this is an elegant way of giving all of us a warning to behave without being obvious about it.

    TTAG commentators . . point taken and appreciated.

Comments are closed.