I figure if people wonder where he went, they'll post "Where'd Anathema go?" And then some kind soul can Nilly the post for them. It's not like the announcement wasn't public. It was plenty public and was discussed a whole bunch in the thread dedicated to such issues.

I say we let it be. t /Beatles

Well, see what I get for skimming Kafka. I'll miss him.

Also, no argument based on doing something as a "courtesy to Anathema" works with me, you won't be surprised to hear. We do not owe the guy any courtesy.

This is the first and last time I will say anything, but yes, as a fellow human being, we sure as hell do.

And I am stating on the record that I'm ashamed to see the level of "No Forgiveness. Ever." WRT this matter. It's snide, and it's childish, and it's every bit as cliquey and exclusive as we've been accused of being.

Without sin. First stone.

We've all, assuming there are no saints among us, done stupid things we've later regretted. Demonizing a person who mistook this for Joe Average Board and behaved like a standard Usenetter? It doesn't make you look like a good person to do so. Because, bare truth here, every board claims to Not Be That, and while he was VERY wrong to act like he did in his first incarnation, once he did understand that no, things really were different here, he behaved well, and contributed.

I have seen the reverse case (sock puppets where respected community members flame people from an anon. safety net, ID) in my time online (not here, to be clear).

I have seen people here not want to be associated with previous online incarnations of their own. They're honest about who they were, but push comes to shove, that's the only difference.

He never lied to me, but I never asked him flat out. I figured it was him, but hell, I was willing to let sleeping dogs lie, because I came to actually like the guy.

I really thought people had a little more forgiveness in them. Sad to be proven wrong.

What Plei Said.

I'm ashamed to see the level of "No Forgiveness. Ever." WRT this matter. It's snide, and it's childish, and it's every bit as cliquey and exclusive as we've been accused of being.

I just don't understand that position. I really really don't understand it. What he did quite literally makes me sick to my stomach. Not an expression. Literally.

Plei makes a great point. I am going to be completely honest and say that her post made me take a hard look at myself and some rather petty, I-knew-it feelings. I've done some things online that I'm not particularly proud of. People were considerate enough to forgive me then.

I am contrite. I am also glad that mieskie chose to try make his exit as painless as possible for the community. He deserves credit for that.

edited to add: John, that's not to say I don't share some of your ill feelings knowing he got away with it.

I'm done with this subject now.

You know how people post "I don't even know you people any more"? As a joke?

That's how I'm feeling right now, only not as a joke.

ita's post said that the admins invited him to come clean, and he "refused".

It also spoke of his "sincere desire" not to cause any more conflict on the board. Forgive me for not seeing sincerity as the hallmark of his time here.

I am also glad that mieskie chose to try make his exit as painless as possible for the community.

As am I, yet still the pain.

I say we let it be.

Please. We all learned something and hopefully we will do better if there is a next time.

Sobbing here. Please can we not go through this again and again.

Maybe a vote on a thread just for this topic so people can dare to come here again.

John, I accept the extremity of your feelings, but I have to confess to not understanding it at all. What did he get away with? End-running some rules but at the same time creating a niche of his own where he was becoming accepted. I quite enjoyed him over in Movies. I have no feelings of betrayal or anything of the like knowing he really was the person who was banned.

I'll say one last thing and that's it.

My problem with meiskie, after he became Schmoker, was that when he sent me an "apology" email (which I no longer have because my yahoo account freaked out at one point), he was apologizing for how unpleasant things got when he was being accused of being meiskie. He said he wasn't, he didn't do those things, and he didn't know why he was being accused of them and he was sorry if he'd made anyone upset.

The whole email was a lie. He was meiskie, he knew exactly why everyone was upset about the Schmoker/meiskie situation.

If I come off sounding like a self righteous bitch because I refuse to like Schmoker/Anametha or give him a second chance, frankly I don't care.

He built his entire relationship with us by lying about who he was and used his new identity to circumvent his punishment.

I'll say it again---if he really respected this community, if he really wanted to be a part of our community, he would have accept his suspension and waited out the two months and then come back.