Raise the Hammer

I'm with Seancb here. Judging from the counts, I downvote a fair bit less than some, usually only for pretty ridiculous trolling and the like, and rarely simply because I disagree. But the point of voting is that everyone gets a say, and every time I hear someone complain about being downvoted (most trolls on here manage two posts max before they post only about how they're being "censored"), I laugh a little bit inside. Sorry, but we don't have to like you.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from responsibility, consequence or criticism. You may say whatever you wish - I highly doubt anyone here will attempt to "track you down and silence you". However, recognize that we, also, have a right to free speech, and if you shoot your mouth off you'll get called on it.

There are lots of people on here who post a lot - I often find myself deciding to take a break because I've been posting often, and I suspect others do too. As someone who posts often, and has some unconventional views, I can't say that I've ever been treated "badly" by the site or it's readers. Most of us tend not to post two, three, four or more times in a row if nobody else has responded. I don't always agree with Bob or Kiely, but I still love hearing from them. Disagreement is a healthy part of conversation, and that's what this is about.

That is not to say, however, that absolutely everything you can say is acceptable. Dominating conversations, frequent cries of victimization, provocative callouts and dismissive statements are all signs of a sorry, shallow, self-obsessed, manipulative twit. Nobody on here is ruder than Turbo, and nobody complains about it more than him. Nobody posts more than he does, nobody gets downvoted more often, nobody derails more serious conversations and nobody makes more blatantly unsupported (and usually unsupportable) statements. Turbo is the Jar-Jar Binks of RTH, and I for one can't stand him. How many more topics are we going to let him Filibuster before people give up and start leaving?

Artist's conception: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oW0XBl9qmGo/Sw...