I'm really sorry that you,
@Iminei and
@Acorn feel unsupported, and would like to publicly express my thanks for all the work you do for the forum. I know from experience that the harder someone works behind the scenes, the easier those in front of them think things are, especially when we see so little of what you do and you don't complain.
Moderation isn't an easy task but I think these days, it's a necessary one. Better a moderated forum than one that descends into a bear pit of differing strong opinions on which neither side will give, which can ruin a forum for the majority of other users. I fully understand all the freedom of speech arguments, but this is primarily a forum about sewing and if you have strong views on matters such as politics that you want to discuss, there are other, more appropriate places for this.
I didn't pick up on Charley's post at the time it was made as I'm not interested in Eurovision. Having read it today, it's clear that she holds some strongly felt views and these seeped into the post. FWIW, I thought that it was an inappropriate post, regardless of whether I agree with the contents or not; even for an off-topic post, it wasn't the place for those comments and I thought the moderation was fair. The question of leaving it public is a thorny one and, again, we don't get to see everything that happens in the background. Whether other members feel it was fair or not, I think it is the moderators to whom we should be giving leaway to as much as the OP. The moderators are the ones who are stuck with trying to make judgement calls on these posts every day and it will never be possible to please everyone. To expect a highly nuanced, consultative and please-everyone approach or solution is simply unrealistic in an environment such as this, and especially where the moderators are voluntary and doing a good job as best as they can. If anyone thinks that they can do better, as well as dealing with all the technical issues, participating in the forum as a member and continuing their normal daily life, then please step forward and offer your services - I'm sure the mods would welcome the assistance with open arms.
Until then, please can we get some perspective on this and stop taking pot-shots at people who make this forum function. None of us are perfect and there will be slip ups along the way, but these can be solved (or compromised upon) in a non-aggressive manner.
@Acorn - please come back. We need you.