Political Bias by the Admins? Profile Pic Removed

If that's what you want as your avatar, rock on. I'll just ignore it.

llama's gonna frame this!

It’s ridiculous that this happened. And seeing some of the responses here have disturbed me. 

If the picture had been of the President and this were 5 years ago? NAACP, ACLU, probably the FBI would be making the owners of this site's heads spin after it was on front page of NYT.

"new person that got a little overzealous" is very poor excuse for blatant censorship.  Am guessing that prospective new hires' social media is checked to be sure they're on the far end of Snowflake scale.

(And yes I voted for Obama for first term, and third party in 2016)

It's not even about the avatar for all anybody, including the OP, knows.  So save the pitchforks 'til then.

The point is, it's completely premature to determine this is some controversy until a mod/admin replies (in private, to the original Email).  Doesn't really matter if the OP has "seen this happen before" on other platforms.

You don't actually know "what you have done" by your own admission, and you won't know until a mod tells you why your avatar was removed (and if it is even related to the incident that caused the warning Email at all).  You're assuming...and in this case extrapolating your assumptions to 2 currently baseless conclusions.  The question is:  why bother extrapolating and going into drama queen mode?  Just get an answer.

You decry mods for censuring you for "badthink", while it's you who are assuming the thoughts/motivations of someone else here.  You're a step ahead of yourself for getting righteously indignant...although admittedly, that's a common failing of the righteously indignant .

Maybe tomorrow, you'll get a reply and come back and say "I told you so", and then you will have cause to get upset, but right now you have nothing.

I know what the rules are and I know I didn't break them. I know the avatar doesn't break the rules. I haven't trash talked, abused or harassed anyone at all in any way. That's not the same as "not knowing what I've done."

You said you "noticed" after the fact that your avatar was gone.  That is all you know right now.  You got an Email, and you noticed your avatar is gone.  You assume they are connected, and you assume you know exactly why they are connected.  You assume the avatar is the sole reason for you to have been reported.  All of these assumptions may be correct.  All you have to do is find out.

It's not up to you to determine if you broke the site rules.  It's up to them.  It doesn't matter if you agree with their rules, either.  It's their discretion.  It's your discretion whether to keep visiting.  You could leave in a huff before you even get any confirmation whatsoever, I guess. 

He stated he noticed his avatar missing after seeing the red warning message.

I know the two events are connected. 

Yep, what he didn't say was "I saw the avatar change as it occurred".  It's an important distinction.  I hate all the Law and Order/Criminal Minds shows, but even fans of that schlock know the difference between saying "I saw X, and then I noticed Y, which must have been caused by X" and "I saw X cause Y, directly".

There's no reason for this whole thread until the OP knows that his avatar was removed specifically because it was perceived as a transgression.

Oye vey

So you've said, and yet you don't know, which is probably why your sentence here has nothing following it in the way of even anecdotal support...

Even if/when your assumption is confirmed right later on, it still won't change that.

I'm harping on this because it happens not infrequently that someone gets bent out of shape about a perceived slight from staff/mods, then, instead of finding out what's actually going on, they start ranting immediately...

"I've been standing in line for 45 minutes, and now you tell me you can't find my shirts!?!  What kind of dry cleaners are you!?!"

"Sir, this ticket is from Drive By and Dry, 2 miles that way..."

"Oh."

President Trump actually has a minor interest in Chess
From a tournament at Trump towers to attending a chess competition that mueller investigated (Chess=Russians=election meddling).

Donkeys it seems.

Just wait til the thread I start when my guy gets removed. He's got a gun AND 'Murican flag. Then I will point out he was a far left radical anti-war folk singer. But got under the skin of hypocrites of all stripes, as in his song "Love me I'm a liberal." A former journalism student, he would spend 6 hours a day devouring foreign and obscure newspapers to inspire his witty topical songs about little known people and events. I think Phil Ochs is scratching at his coffin to get out after reading this post, grab his Gibson and write a ditty that would skewer us all.

Trailer from great American Masters/PBS documentary about his life, featuring interviews with Joan Baez, Jello Biafra, Billy Bragg, Christopher Hitchens, Sean Penn, Peter Yarrow...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PePGLGiHw8I

Just use a different image....perhaps one that is not so unflattering.  Even Trump gets upset about being portrayed as orange.

I shouldn't have to. That's the point. There was ZERO reason to censor the image I was  using in the first place.

That argument is totally flat and smacks of censureship. There are plenty of other statements , references, and pics that evoke the same depending upon a persons viewpoint. Why are we singling out trump?

Yes, he's a family man 3 times over (and even more on the side).

Also this:

It is not an "argument", it is a childish and banal comment from someone who thinks the Forum rules don't apply to him.