TTAG commentators are free to criticize my posts. Or anyone else’s posts. They may do so as vigorously as they please. But they are not free to flame the website, its authors or fellow commentators. The definition of flaming is like the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography: I know it when I see it. And yes, ultimately, it’s my decision. It’s also true that I tend to remove comments about TTAG’s editorial stance or style underneath an unrelated post. Experience tells me that navel gazing hijacks the thread and, eventually, the whole site. When an editorial issue reaches a certain critical mass, I break it out into a separate post and allow more freedom to let slip the dogs of war. As I’ve done here. As for Bob S. . . .

The man had a conniption about the Oleg Volk post and a previous one about the Glock porno mag (so to speak). I invited him to discuss TTAG’s editorial policies via email. This we did—to no avail. He seemed to believe that I should proactively contact the subject of critical posts to get their comments before I press play.

I/we do reach out to objects of our ire from time to time, and the comments section is always open. But TTAG is not the New York Times. Thank God.

If you feel that TTAG is unfair or wish to discuss ANY aspect of the site’s administration, you can contact me directly at [email protected]. Or leave your kvetch here. Except for Bob S. whom I’ve banned for his email intemperance and persistent flaming.

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56 COMMENTS

  9. I was born in Texas and raised in Mississippi, I sometimes get my prejudices mixed up, but the really bad thing is, I have a terrible accent.

  10. I must have crossed some invisible line yesterday, because my brilliantly thought out and erudite post about ammo availability was wiped out, never to be seen again, with the error message:

    “You’re posting too fast. Slow down.”

    I hadn’t posted anything in a week, so I guess your servers where overloaded and simply threw up, then exploded, not too differently from Mr. Creosote in “The Meaning of Life”.

    As for the anti-semitic comment, remember what happened to the cleaning woman at the end of the above-mentioned scene.

    • @ Slab Rakle

      Not only got that, but after a lot of effort, it happens I don’t even get that.

      I learned to COPY then post. Paste then try again later.

    • I agree.

      Disregarding my personal distaste for such things, I cringe when I see any text that would allow one of our liberal friends to quote it using the dreaded “(sic)” that is so often used to illustrate how an author should not be taken seriously.

      I really do appreciate and enjoy TTAG, but a little extra proofreading would make me feel better about being a fan.

    • How about LOSE versus LOOSE. My personal pet peeve (because I’m an aviator) is hangar versus hanger. I see signs on airfields all of the time which have it spelled incorrectly

  12. Typically a screwball who annoys people says that other people are wrong and that he or she is right without question, also included may be a “you’re stupid for considering otherwise” or some statement of that ilk as justification. The premise is usually weak and circumstantial at best. Usually when such a bluff is called and data is requested proving the screwballs opinion crickets chirp or the data provided per request is so full of holes and opinionated that it may as well be invisible.

    A good moderator kills the voice of the screwball. They cause toxic and/or off topic posts. I frequent this place pretty regularly now but somehow I missed the person in question. I now pat the moderator on the back belatedly.

  13. Here is the most popular blog North Dakota, http://sayanythingblog.com/
    Perhaps you could learn a little bit about free speech by reading some of the posts & comments there. Rob isn’t scared of letting “flamers” throw fireballs at each other. But then this is ND and we don’t have cities full of PC candy asses like the rest of America(Fargo’s close).
    I like your blog a lot but you gotta sac up & let the comments roll without banning flamers.
    Welcome to ND…now go back where you came from!

    • @Jamie in ND

      I will say that this policy could be a bit confusing as criticizing a post, often times means criticizing the author. Robert and Co. should sit down and hash out an official comments policy and link to it in the top nav menu, just a suggestion.

      Still, this is not a free speech issue. The fact that you say it is shows an astonishing amount of ignorance on your part.

      TTAG is, in essence private property. The proprietors of TTAG don’t have to let anyone in that they do not want to let in.

      On the surface it seems like a good policy to let people say whatever they want, and not remove anything. In reality what you end up with is the sort of quality comments you see on YouTube.

  15. Wll, ths crtnly mks sns t m. Whl t s th rght f TTAG t rmv cmmnts, thnk tht dsmvwlng llws th rgnl wrtr t cm thrgh s th dt/trll thy slly r.

    I enjoy the site, but dislike many of the comments. I am free to wander elsewhere and Robert and company are free to delete criticisms.

  16. Bob S. is one of the most disagreeable characters I’ve met on the gun blogs. It pleases me no end that he’s been banned here. But there is a double benefit to it for TTAG. Being unable to help himself from being such and annoyance, Bob gives all of you a bad name. Eliminating his comments might give a false positive impression of the manners of your average por-gun commenter. But, I guess that’s what we have Joe and Ralph for, so never mind.

    • Directly quoted from Robert in this very post: “But they are not free to flame the website, its authors or fellow commentators. ”

      With Mike’s post above I guess we will get to see how vigorously Robert enforces those rules.

      • “When an editorial issue reaches a certain critical mass, I break it out into a separate post and allow more freedom to let slip the dogs of war.”

      • In other words, Farago will only enforce his rules when it is convenient for him, and when doing so will not stifle debate… about anyone other than him.

        • It’s not a question of convenience. It’s a question of discretion. I encourage debate, but not flaming. And you are correct: my editorial decisions are not a suitable subject for debate. Except for here, or other posts like this one. Or via email ([email protected]).

          • Didn’t your momma ever teach you that actions speak louder than words?

            Also, I love what you’ve done with the double standards around here!

  18. So am I correct in assuming this whole thing is about some guy unable to immediately identify a dick joke on the internet?

    -D

  19. If you are looking for comments on how you run this ship:

    WHERE’S MY TEE SHIRT REFUND???

    When people question your integrity, you wonder why… I think I’ll stroll over to Bob’s blog and spread the flames.

  20. Any idea why I get the message, “You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.” even though I haven’t posted anything in a few hours?

  21. The comment editor freaking out on me and not letting me reply to a thread on the Kurt Kirby story. It appears to be accepting the comment but nothing appears. Any idea? And please delete any duplicate comments from me as a result of this glitch.

    Thanks.

Comments are closed.