It appears that dear Walter has left our ranks.

I suspect this is in direct response to my "outing" of him on the TOU Watchdogs Tribe, under the Subject: Walter?

(I hereby give myself permission to quote myself)

"Walter is a functionary of Tribe.net. He is an executor of policy, not (necessarily) an author of policy. He is the only face we have to put on the authority of Tribe, and so he gets all of our kudos when things are spiffy, and all of our rancor when the shit hits the fan. This hardly seems right. I don't think Tribe.net is just Walter, alone in some closet up in San Fran, tearing his hair out (oops...) over our bull. No, the fact is that Walter is just the public face of the Company, and he likely has a lot less influence then we're giving him credit for. He's a functionary. He's probably got little more authority than you or I in the daily goings on of the business he is a party to. He's paying the rent.

As such, do you really think he has the kind of freedom to say "yeah, guys, I know this is fucked up, but there's nothing I can do about it..."? I sincerely doubt it. He's just a guy.

Maybe you're right, and joining a Tribe does not logically mean you endorse it. Maybe you can join it specifically to offer counter argument to whatever is being posited there. In this case, deleting an entire Tribe due to that Tribe's stated purpose cannot be correct, it's true. But, on the other hand, what if Walter's point is valid, and by joining a Tribe, you are automatically a party to whatever action or statement that Tribe is then making? Allow me to remind you, Walter joined a Tribe, which at the time he joined it was named "Walter is a Puppy-Killer", and has as it's stated purpose the criticism of the TOU action of 7/29. I don't know how you interpret this, but it is as clear as daylight to me. Though the name of the Tribe had changed, you'll notice that Walter is STILL an active member of "(censored by tribe) is a Puppy-Killer".

Walter may be evasive, out of professional necessity, and I will be the last man to begrudge him that; but I believe his actions betray his personal standpoint on the matter, in spite of whatever policies restrain him."

Unfortunately, by clarifying that Walter's mere presence in this Tribe can be interpreted as no less than an act of contrition for, and critique of the TOU action of 7/29, I may have thus forced him to withdraw, as the point has surely been made clear to his superiors as well. The proverbial cat is out of the proverbial bag.

And so I say, au revoir, sweet Walter - fight the good fight as best you are able!