I think what this thread and the conversations therein boil down to is that some of you guys don't trust that we do things behind the scenes which justify the actions (or perceived inactions) that you see us carry out publicly. Someone gets banned or warned (or not) and not having seen everything that builds up to that, members end up feeling that things happen for no good reason or we're just enforcing rules (or bending them, or completely disregarding them) willy-nilly when we feel like it.
We are arbiters. We try to be neutral, however we all have our biases - this is why there are several of us, to balance each other out, because we are all human. We discuss things and (usually) come to a consensus. Does that mean we act as a solid unit? No. Does that mean that the admins don't have ultimate authority? No. Does that mean that the rules are set in stone, strictly enforced the same exact way for everything that happens on (and off) the board? No.
There is a lot that happens here that most members are not aware of. Not only because you don't sit and refresh the board 24/7, but because most of this process happens outside of the public eye. You guys see a warn for abusive behavior, we see a report with staff conversation attached, a dozen hidden posts and (usually) a PM conversation with the member. You guys see a ban, we see months of trying to reason with a member, hours spent discussing the issue with the rest of the staff, multiple PM conversations with the member and staff, dozens of reports with lengthy staff conversations attached, and hundreds upon hundreds of hidden posts.
I don't blame anyone for being skeptical; it's a good thing. Blind faith and trust is boring and doesn't help anyone. But I hope you can understand if we seem a little defensive. It's not like we all got together and said, "Eh, Khaligula's getting annoying, and he insulted me. Let's ban him." If that were the case, there would be a
lot more banned members