In all honesty,

[woo me with science]

I don't get the removal of the hummingbird post. The OP was clearly a non-serious post in the GD forum, crafted solely to elicit a response. It seems to me that a post about hummingbirds in response was a non-offensive but thoroughly effective way to drive home that point.

If DU has a rule that replies must be on-topic and serious even when the OP is deliberately non-serious, then we are in strange territory, indeed.

This was an over-the-top deletion, IMO.



On edit: And now we have this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1673167

Frankly, I think Forkboy deserves an apology.

[Skinner]

1. I agree that something is over-the-top here.

But I don't think the deletion is it.

[woo me with science]

2. Can you explain?

Why would you enforce a serious response to a non-serious post?

I hope you aren't talking about my post being over the top. I thought it was a reasonable, accurate, and non-inflammatory description of the circumstances surrounding the deletion.

[Skinner]

3. No, I'm not talking about your post. (nt)

[woo me with science]

4. Skinner,

Thank you for locking the call-out thread.

I didn't post here to get in the middle of anything personal. I came here to express an opinion about a deletion: that enforcing a serious response to what is clearly a non-serious OP was unfair.

IMO, if OP's with that level of seriousness are fine in GD, then people should not be prevented from replying to them with a commensurate level of seriousness.