I quit

[SteveRogers]

I don't really care. Posts are low quality and he identifies as a secular humanist.

This is disgusting. Don't condone bullying another forum member senselessly just because of the the way he posts and his political views.

Did you actually look at his posts? Or for that matter, any of the posts anyone made about him? Like, can you actually point to the meanest post directed at him? I actually don't see any reason to think that he's a sock, but from what I can see he certainly made a couple of objectively bad posts right off the bat that would be indicative of someone who is not here to make constructive contributions. And when he made those bad posts, he got some mild criticism for it just like any established poster would if they posted the same thing. Here was my only interaction with him:

You should include Hindus and Buddhists, and Other.

Sorry.  Just check "Atheist" then.

You're bad at this.

Is that cyberbullying? Is that relentlessly cruel?

You have a history of going on fruitless witch hunts against posters you disagree with. I dont think you have any room to talk here to talk

I am not accusing The Groom of being a sock, nor would I call for his banning. I am merely questioning whether those who are reflexively criticizing the criticism of The Groom have looked at the facts. Green Line, I apologize for accusing you of being a sock before. That was rash of me, and I'm sorry. However, I will not apologize for calling you a troll because at the time your only contribution to the forum was that horrible troll thread about Jeb Bush's wife which rightly raised some red flags.

Likewise, when someone comes to the forum and immediately makes threads like this https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=217648.msg4694940#msg4694940 , it should raise some red flags, and being new shouldn't make that poster immune from criticism. Political ideology has nothing to do with it.

[Simfan34]

You'll need to explain futher. I still don't see why this person strikes you as a sock.

It seems these days all new posters are written off as being trolls, socks, or idiots.

[muon2]

trolololol

Really, guys, is he actually a sock or all you all just being mean to him? Because if so, stop.

He is.

How do you know that, though? I'm seriously starting to doubt this guy is a sock now and you guys should stop being such @holes to him.

Age: 37
Current location: Charleston, SC
If you could pick a nationality: White

This and the threads he started. He seemed to be VERY familiar with this forum and its boards.

I haven't posted at all in response to the The Groom or any of the threads about his treatment so far. From the outset the posting pattern was very inconsistent with a newbie. There were 24 posts in the first 90 minutes and posts that showed knowledge of the Forum and its posters, so if not a sock this was a long-time lurker. As to the posted profile linked above, how many 37 year old Charleston SC businessmen would list Despicable Me and Minions as their favorite movies?  And if he was from Charleston, the IP suggests that he spent the day on business in Charlotte NC (with time to put up so many posts), another item that doesn't seem consistent with a first-time poster.

There seems every reason for posters to question him. And note that unlike Green Line who defended himself when caught with a duplicate account created within an hour of a known sock, The Groom offered no defense, and quit unilaterally.