Sorry man, but I don't see any political ranting in this thread. Those discussions are all too different.
The major bane in these posts, if I gather correctly are as follows:
1) MM does not post his own work, and the original builder never posts a single word.
2) Only replies to "great job, atta boy" comments, and not to criticisms.
3) Never attempts to acknowledge less-than-ideal criticisms, those that are leveled in an effort to make the work grow, and become something better the next time around.
4) Does not promote a sense of community that all others on this site do; particularily in listening, and giving, advice and suggestions.
Political ravings are an entirely different issue. And I am glad that there is a definite variance in severity when dealing with different types of topics. That is how it should be. We are all adults (for the most part ![Tongue [:P]](/emoticons/icon_smile_tongue.gif)
) and there is nothing said in this threads that is slanderous, offensive, or otherwise unequitable. So why should it be locked down?
As for n00b posters posting their work once and getting slammed, well you yourself pointed out that for members that do this 'slamming', there are many who jump in to the defense, and even the 'aggressors' (really poor term) usually state that it is nothing personal, and that they are merely pointing out areas of potential improvement.