I’ll keep this as brief as possible. I apologize to everyone here for my ad hominem attacks that caused such a sensation a couple of days ago. That’s not like me, but it shouldn’t have happened anyway. I wasn’t trying stir up everyone, but with such an emotional display it would be hard to imagine a different outcome. Again, I am sorry.

Having said that, I still stand by my original premise, in that “lynchers” is an inappropriate term to describe those of us who wanted to ban MrFisk. Now before anyone points me to a reference book, I KNOW that its dictionary definition doesn't include race. However I still contend that “lynching” is a charged term, especially in the U.S., because throughout American history it has largely been used against African Americans. Therefore I believe it should never be used in the context it was mentioned. When I, and MANY others, think of the term “lynching”, we’re not thinking of this, but this. Do a Google image search on the term "lynching", and this is what you'll find. Now one could argue that since the meaning resides in the individual then it’s really only my fault for taking offense, but I beg to differ. I do my best to avoid analogies because in the end they always fail, but I’ll offer this one as an example anyway:

Remember when, just for a joke, some Sift Talk posts were tagged “Gay”? Now I don’t think anyone who did it dislikes homosexuals or was even trying to insult them. Nonetheless, the word was used in a depreciatory sense, and dag even had the good sense to spank the gay out of them, because he knew that it shouldn’t be used that way. That is basically my contention about the term “lynchers” and “lynching”. They should not be used unless we’re talking about actual lynchings, because to use it in another way would denigrate the significance of what it means to a LOT of people, including me. I do not want to be even remotely compared in any way to the monsters responsible for the deaths of so many innocent black people. Even if most people here don’t think of it that way, it doesn’t mean it’s right to make use of it in a bad metaphor. Most people here also didn’t seem to have a problem with the “Gay” tag, but that didn’t make it right either.

You can call me “too PC” if you want; I don’t care. I simply want us to be respectful of each other’s feelings, and if that makes me too PC then so be it. I offer this post only because I did not want to leave here on such a low note. You’re a great community, and you deserve better than that from me. Once more, I apologize for the ad hominem attacks.