Was it a mistake for me to lock the opinion of Hitler thread?

[angus]

Was it a mistake for me to lock the opinion of Hitler thread?

I think you ought to grow a pair.

Either you lock it or you don't.  I wouldn't lock it, but if you lock it then at least have the pearls to stand behind your decision and not invite the forum to second guess your actions.

[angus]

It's called feedback.

It's called feedback when you ask us which hat looks better on you, or whether that dress makes your ass look big.  On the other hand, when you capriciously and unilaterally make a decision that amounts to stifling freedom of expression, then ask us for our blessing either in order to appease your conscience or to give you justification ex post facto, then you look like a cross between a fascist and an insecure beta male who uses his undemocratically established authority to subvert the popular will.  You should appreciate the irony, considering the subject in question.

Own your decisions, man.  Stalin wouldn't have asked for benediction, would he?  And my guess is that you wouldn't have closed a poll asking our opinion of him, even though he killed far more innocent people than Hitler did.  After all, you never hijacked any of the millions of other asinine polls on this board, many of which were equally bizarre to, or even more bizarre than, the one to which you refer.

[angus]

You traded the right to friendship when you became a Kapo.  Accept it.

Just beat us and be done with it.  Whatever gods may exist will judge you less harshly for that than for the masturbatory fantasies that you're engaging in now.  

Or, if you're not up to the task, then quit the job.  Really, Torie, this is unseemly, even for you.

edit:  Okay, that was a little harsh.  I was thinking of my department chair who I very much regard as a friend and colleague.  He has been very supportive and helpful, and is trying to navigate unfamiliar terrain.  I don't really regard him as Kapo, but as First among Equals.  Then again, his position was democratically determined (in before:  yes, I know that democracy is highly over-rated.)

You squelched a thread.  Presumably you did so with confidence and with honor.  Nevertheless, your decision does not seem defensible by any logical or historical standard because there was no rancor in the thread and it did not violate any terms.  Moreover, your only attempt to prosecute the thread was circular ("Hitler was Hitler").  Of course it was trolling, but it was not any more or less stupid than the many trolling threads which have been created herein.  Broadband is cheap, so even cost is not an excuse.  You succumbed to abject political correctness, and whether you want to admit it or not, you have had second thoughts and are now looking for both blessing and justification after the fact.  FWIW, I voted yes, but "who cares?" is probably a more honest response.  Still, I want to help you feel better.  For all your faults you are a pretty good moderator and I don't want to see you vomit like this in public very often.  You will not inspire confidence in yourself as a moderator, or of the moderation process generally, if you become wobbly.  You must accept that you act, with the aegis of the forum's Ultimate Dictator, as an autocrat.  If we are to accept the Terms of Site, then we must have a reasonable assurance that our moderators aren't given to fits of insecurity and self-doubt.  Let it go, and try to think *before* you act next time, instead of thinking after you act.