I apologize in advance for the interruption, but I would like to make one public attempt at trying to resolve an LGF issue.

I’ve been a pretty regular LGF reader since the Rathergate episode. I find myself disagreeing with some of Charles’ recent positions — AGW in particular — but have consistently appreciated the site’s straightforward and honest treatment of issues regarding Israel.

A couple of years ago, I managed to visit LGF during a “door opens” period and registered for an account — “foobear”. I didn’t do any posting, pretty much just a lurker, but I thought it would be great to have an account, should I find myself inspired to actually contribute to the discussion.

In mid-2009, if I remember correctly, I finally decided to weigh in on a topic and logged in for the first time since I had created my account. I spent probably 30 minutes composing my comment, reviewing it for spelling and relevance, then proudly submitted it, only to receive a message that I was no longer logged in.

When I tried to log in again, I found that my account had been blocked. I sent a couple of emails over the next few weeks to the webmaster email address (the only address I could find that seemed to be related to user questions), but never received a reply. I finally concluded that perhaps the delay in using my account had triggered some automatic blocking script or something.

I continued to visit LGF several times a day, hoping that I might once again stumble upon an open door, but no such luck. I also periodically clicked the “register” button, but consistently was directed to a page noting that registrations were closed.

Then, a few days ago, I clicked the “register” button and — voila! — there was the registration form! Figuring that my old account name would be unavailable, I happily registered a new account - “teh_foo”. Success! I logged in and read a couple of posts, but just as I was about to contribute, I had to leave for an appointment.

When I tried logging in again later, I found that my new account had been blocked. Hmm…

“Third time’s a charm”, I thought, and tried registering once more, this time with the name “teros”. This time, as soon as I got my confirmation email, I posted a reply — to the Obama BP speech thread. I don’t think I posted anything insulting or offensive; I even got a couple of friendly replies a few posts down the thread.

I had just clicked “submit” on my next contribution to the discussion when I got the message that I was, once again, no longer logged in. Sure enough, my account had been blocked. I sent another email to the webmaster, but like my earlier attempts, received no reply.

As I mentioned, my views are decidedly not the same as the majority of LGF posts I have read on a number of issues, but it’s not been my experience as a reader that folks are banned for simply disagreeing. However, I’m at a real loss to explain why I have been banned. Well, that’s not really true. At this point, I suspect that I’m being locked out because I am repeatedly registering new accounts. However, with no feedback from the webmaster, and a genuine desire to be part of the conversation, I decided to take the chance.

So, here I am. I’ve registered one last time and posted this comment, though it’s clearly off topic. I also realize that my post may well come across as whining, though it is not my intent. It’s just that I feel that this site is worth the effort. LGF moderators may feel, however, that I am not worth the effort, and will be once again banned, with no explanation or recourse. They’re obviously within their rights, as banning is clearly at the discretion of LGF. If so, I apologize for wasting anyone’s time.

It’s also quite possible that this post will be deleted. If so, I’ll finally take the hint and bid farewell to LGF.

Thanks for your time — we now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.

— Tony