On another site I visit regularly, the moderator states this:
"The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content."
I think we all understand that applies on any site, but also that each poster is ultimately accountable to the moderator for his postings.
An offended member has no way to influence others except by moral suasion, or by departing, both of which have been tried here with little, if any, success. As moderator, you do have another way, as just demonstrated.
So, while you own neither tone, nor intent, nor content, you do own the site; thus you have the burden of controlling continued violations of your standards, stated or unstated.
Some moderators run their sites with vigorous upfront statements about what is acceptable content, and then act immediately if an offense is found to have occurred. That is their choice. You do it differently; that is your choice. All who come here accept that, even if some of us have different expectations than others as to how a post should be read, or interpreted, or construed.
My original post plainly offended some, but it did not offend the author whose work drew my comments. Different strokes for different folks.
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