I asked about the actions of the current moderation staff and you answered by talking about the old staff.
Well, since the history of unprofessional moderation goes back so far, and was sanctioned by Alex himself, the onus is on the current moderation staff to prove that they will be different. Simply saying that things are different isn't good enough, you all will have to go out and prove it.
Let's look at your "questions":
Who decides what thoughts must be expressed? The member does - but their actions take place in a moderated environment and they must accept the consequences of their words.
AFAIK, expressing ideas isn't SUPPOSED to be against the TOS, but I could be wrong about that since so many people have been banned for expressing opinions that Alex didn't personally like.
The rules are simple and far less ambiguous than previously.
If there's a new TOS, I'm going to have to read it. Did they remove the portions that were illegal?? (claiming that members posts were property of WP and couldn't be re-posted elsewhere whithout permission of Alex)
I believe most people want to follow the rules and participate on a level playing field.
The problem with WP is that it hasn't been a level playing field. Constructive criticism as been routinely deleted, those with dissenting voices are silenced. Claiming that you are creating a level playing field has to be something more that mere lip service. If I see evidence that there is a level playing field there, I might return.
Since you brought up the subject of a "level playing field", there's no place with with a more level field than right here at I2.
Those who don't want that don't really want to be there anyway, they just want to cause trouble.
Wouldn't part of being a support site be allowing people to learn how to handle bullies??
TCO tried to bully me on WP and I gave him an arse whipping without the help of the mods. He tried to do the same thing here and I gave him a second arse whipping.
Like the other mods? No.
I'm a skeptic. You're going to have to prove that.