Peter, there is a significant difference between really crappy posting consisting of all-caps incoherent noise and My Little Pony videos, and really crappy posting consisting of ugly conclusions about race/sex/culture. They might both be properly characterized as “really crappy posting”, but they are crappy in really different ways. As such, it doesn’t follow that we must treat them the same.
Dealing with racism, sexism, antisemitism, etc. on ILP is difficult. On one hand, it’s important to me that people not be punished, and discussion not be prevented, merely because the ideas or arguments are abhorrent. Some ideas that were abhorrent in the past (and are still abhorrent in some communities) are strongly supported by modern progressive humanism, e.g. homosexuality and abortion. So mere abhorrence can’t be grounds for censorship or exclusion. On the other hand, it’s important to me that everyone with a philosophical bent feel welcome here, regardless of their race, sex, or ethnicity. Some abhorrent ideas, like racism, sexism, and antisemitism, tend to make certain groups feel unwelcome.
The splitting of the baby is that philosophically-expressed ideas, no matter how abhorrent, are permitted. At the same time, abhorrent ideas expressed in uncivil ways – through the use of epithets, ad hominems, bad faith, trolling, or otherwise in ways that tend to disrupt or derail real consideration of the ideas themselves – abhorrent ideas expressed cruelly or unphilosophically just have no place here.
That line is easy to explain and to understand, but it is very hard to police in practice, and I personally have failed over and over again to police it effectively. That doesn’t mean that the distinction isn’t valid or isn’t worth policing, it just means that I need to do better.
Trixie was banned because his/her posts were shite, they were 95% noise, and contained a lot of ad hominem, bad faith, mean racism, sexism, and antisemitism. S/he was given many chances, was warned many times that his/her behavior was unacceptable. There is no reason to believe that continued participation would mean any better form of participation. Trixie’s presence was a net negative, and there’s no reason to believe that ILP will be anything but better off without his/her participation. A permanent ban was appropriate, and in fact long overdue.