I think he posted something as ambiguous as that because...he's hal. Seriously,
that's just the way he is. If hal seeks attention...he does it in a big, bold, all caps, cursing every other word kind of way. Subtlety is not his strong point, and after years of knowing him, I'm amazed that people here haven't gotten that yet.
With all respect, El, hal absolutely seeks attention by making short, passive-aggressive posts. He's done so in the past, and it is absolutely legitimate for people to have assumed that he was attempting to do so again. In particular, hal will try to drag drama from one board onto another.
After our (hal, Ax, yov, me, whomever else) little altercation on b77 regarding statements of hal's which some of us considered racist, for instance, he showed up on HoF and started alluding to the incident. Not all of his posts on the matter survive intact, but here's one remaining example (in a public forum), which came off as deliberate baiting:
http://thehalloffire.net/forum/viewtopi ... ght=#81951
There were other, worse examples that have been moved, deleted, or edited.
Or, here's another passive-aggressive example (unfortunately, not in a public forum), where, in a response to a long policy post of Jn's, hal simply opines, "You guys will never get it."
http://thehalloffire.net/forum/viewtopi ... ght=#59513
When hal posts one sentence or an incomplete sentence, that's when I most suspect that he'll come up with something hostile or incendiary. Not the other way around. He certainly is capable of swearing and using all caps, but he's also capable of one sentence digs and attempts to spotlight himself.
I read his two word post the same way as many others did - as an attempt to draw attention to the fact that he was banned from HoF, if not to spark a discussion. It would have been so much better if he'd said, "I can't see the discussion on HoF since it's in a members-only forum - could someone please summarize for me?" Others have asked this many times when they've opted not to cross register for HoF, and usually someone is happy to comply, even if it's not the thread starter.
(And I gotta add, not as a dig against you Ro, but just in general...if people always assume that hal's trying to provoke them and stir up drama, aren't they also assuming the worst of him where they could instead...try to assume the best, or at the very least, not assume anything?)
You say this as though those of us who no longer assume the best of hal are doing so without justification. To the contrary, we have years of justification - messageboard drama after messageboard drama starring hal, or featuring hal in a strong supporting role. Some of us have a history of defending hal in those altercations as recently as the latest incident on HoF. Some of us have a years-long history of TRYING to think the best of hal even when all evidence points to the contrary (okay, in my case, the years-long history has been punctuated with periods of decidedly not feeling that way, but for the most part, I have spent far more time defending hal than the contrary.) When called on at HoF to serve as a witness in hal's banning hearing, I AGAIN tried to give hal every benefit of the doubt...tried to think of every explanation that would justify hal's actions for the benefit of the decisionmakers in that case. Many of the others here have done the same - either in that hearing or in previous altercations.
If you (or anyone else) disagrees with people thinking the worst of hal
due to his lengthy history of poor behavior, then that's your prerogative. But I want to be very clear that those of us who now feel that way have not been too quick to do so. Many of us have spent years giving him every benefit of the doubt.
I've said this to hal privately many times before, and I'll say it now publically: hal's history in these communities is so poor that he has to
earn back the benefit of the doubt, focusing on where he was wrong (rather than all the perceived wrongs that others have done him). He has to go out of his way to show people that he deserves their trust and respect. Yes, there is now a double standard in place concerning hal, because he has done everything to assure that people can't trust him simply to conduct himself online in a civilized manner. If he wishes to continue to participate in our online community, he should be doing everything it takes to regain the goodwill of its members - and instead, he continues to do the opposite. So I, for one, will not apologize for viewing his actions through a different lens than I view all other posters. He's earned that.