Upon further review, we have restored Nikita's post to the original thread as it does not violate any of the rules here at Backstage.
I'd like to note that the entire staff (along with everyone else) sees all moderation actions and, like any group of people, our opinions may vary internally. This is good and healthy and part of the reason why Silver doesn't run this place entirely solo. (Also because he has a life!) But it also presents challenges, partly because of the global nature of the site which results in posts at all hours, and partly because cultural expectations and understandings differ.
We do have some internal guidelines. Generally speaking, moderators try not to take action in threads in which we post as individuals. Occasionally, particularly egregious posts may require immediate action, or sometimes we just forget (or no one else is available). This applies even more so in the case of replies to a moderator's individual post, where except in extreme circumstances the moderator should let one of the other staff members handle the situation.
As a side note, when a member reports a moderator's post, that moderator may choose to respond in the private discussion thread created by the report, but other moderators decide what action to take.
The entire Backstage staff and I are very sorry that this happened, and while I won't comment on specifics, obviously we're listening to everyone (privately and publicly) and working things out. All people make mistakes sometimes and deserve respect and a chance to explain themselves.
I'm re-opening the thread because I believe that, at this point everyone here can discuss things civilly and courteously. Please don't disabuse me of the notion -- clearly, we'd rather not wield the Mallet of Loving Correction here.
