- DRV incorrectly filed on October 11 under October 6 - moving here instead. Carcharoth (talk) 12:41, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Troopergate (Bill Clinton) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) (restore | cache | AfD))
I nominated Troopergate (Bill Clinton), an article that about "an alleged scandal involving allegations by two Arkansas state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton." The article has been on Wikipedia for FOUR years and contains two sources, which call the event a manufactured "scandal." Despite the reasons, which I outlined below, it was closed within three hours by the above admin editor (not an admin.) claiming: "The result was Speedy keep, bad faith nom." I want to see if I can get the AFD reopened so my concerns can be addressed. My reasons, expanded here, for the AFD were as follows:
- The article "Troopergate" is about an "alleged scandal," which in my nomination I noted is dealt in detail with on Paula Jones's page (specifically Paula_Jones#Jones_v._Clinton). I think the article should be deleted, and maybe a redirect there.
- An article solely about one portion of an alleged series of sexual claims (which were thrown out in court) violates WP:BLP for Bill Clinton. Again, relevant information that complies with BLP is on the Paula Jones page.
- The title Troopergate, as I mentioned in the original nomination, is inappropriate. The other "Troopergate scandals" do not use troopergate in the title. For instance, there is not a Troopergate Palin article, but it is called Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal despite "Palin's Troopergate" being a headline news story today (it is how I came across this article).
- A discussion to delete this came up by another editor at Talk:Troopergate_(Bill_Clinton)#Delete and merge. There was no response after a month (28 August 2008) so I took it to an AFD. That editor wrote:
- This article should be merged into the PAula Jones article. Apparently "troopergate" is a term that is only being used in a NY tabloid. This doesn't merit another article, and the term should not be used by Wikipedia to describe this. Wikipedia is not the place to showcase novel neologisms.[3]
- I just noticed in 2006 another editor noted: "the content was a subset of jones, and the notability is because of jones." He too thinks the material does not deserve an article independent of Jones.
In response to the AFD was two replies. One included claiming the AFD was "bad faith" because it is "more than notable and sourced and is not replaced by the current Alaska incident." Such remarks, show misunderstanding of my concerns and nomination: 1) It has TWO in-line sources over the last four years and 2) I did not call anywhere for the article to "replace" the Alaska incident. Thus, I believe these are legitimate concerns for an AFD, which was prematurely closed. We66er (talk) 22:49, 11 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- DRV template added to the article. Carcharoth (talk) 12:49, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - There is an ongoing AfD that may be affected by this DRV. -- Suntag ☼ 14:55, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse. The close was premature and should not have been called "bad faith" (closer, you jumped the gun), but this should stand. First of all, you never really gave a valid deletion reason. This incident was more than significant enough to receive a separate article. As for your points: 1) Simply because it is "alleged" doesn't warrant a deletion. It was still widely reported on. 2) It does not violate WP:BLP because the statements have a source (but could be sourced better), are true, and the article never claims he actually did anything anyways, only that they were alleged. 3) If you don't like the title, come up with a better one. That's not a deletion reason. The article needs more and better sources. But there is no reason to delete and this should have been brought up for discussion, not deletion. --UsaSatsui (talk) 15:34, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep. this is a scandal that is rooted in american history. it should be kept in Wikipedia.Degrassi. 19:10, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment What does "Troopergate" deal with that isn't or can't be explored at Paula_Jones#Jones_v._Clinton? The Jones' piece covers the allegations and failed lawsuit. We66er (talk) 19:14, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep as Closed I suggested a speedy keep in the original AFD, and questioned the nom's motives in a more colorful and indirect manner. The nomination itself DOES appear to be biased, in my opinion, and in the opinion of others. Personally, I would have waited for one more 'keep' and worded the summary differently, but the net result would have been the same. The only "crime" here is being too blunt (ie: honest) in summing up the conclusions that we participants had already drawn and clearly stated. I have worked with Hammer a little, and I'm confident he is smart enough to see that it would have been better to choose a more neutral closing statement and wait for another 'keep' or two. This was a gut judgment call on his part, and most experienced editors have made similar calls before (for better or worse), so I don't question his motives. As for the nomination itself, my original statement stands without modification. PHARMBOY (TALK) 19:47, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- This is not the first time Hammer's been accused of "jumping the gun" on AFDs: Wikipedia:Requests_for_adminship/TenPoundHammer_6#Oppose. Read the 54 opposing comments and 18 neutral comments for examples of that. In fact, his closures and behavior seems to the be the crux of his six RFAR failures. Nonetheless, you question me when other editors have the same concerns about the article. I would appreciate if you focus on the content and not level further accusations. We66er (talk) 20:02, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment This forum isn't for discussing RFA's either. My focus and the entire purpose of this forum is to discuss the process of closing the AFD, not the content of the article, as I have tried to explain to you above. This is degrading into a personal attack against TenPoundHammer rather than a review of an AFD, which will not be tolorated. PHARMBOY (TALK) 20:21, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- You brought up your experience with Hammer so I cited other people's AFD experience/complaints with him. I have not attacked anyone. As I wrote to you above: I would appreciate if you focus on the content and not level further accusations. We66er (talk) 20:27, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse as closer. Yes, it was a little premature and hasty of me, but I stand by my closure. There are sources and the article can easily be expanded. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • (Broken clamshells • Otter chirps • HELP) 20:32, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Overturn and reclose as keep without the assumption of bad faith. Stifle (talk) 20:40, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - the concerns about whether or not this should be a separate article should probably be addressed in a merge discussion. Someone could be bold and carry out a merge and see if it sticks. But maybe not right now. Carcharoth (talk) 21:48, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse close. I am tempted to suggest a relist since 3 hours is awfully fast for even a speedy keep and the accusation of bad faith was unwarranted but there is no point in reopening it so it can be speedy closed again in 22 hours by an admin. Therefore, my recommendation is to slap TenPoundHammer and his otters with some trout and leave the close as is. Eluchil404 (talk) 22:23, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Overturn and reclose as speedy keep a snow keep will obviously be the conclusion no matter who does it, but I see the point of Stifle's suggestion above, to remove the "bad faith" from the record. Apart from that inappropriate wording, --admin or non-admin it would have been a little fast for the circumstances; over-rapid closes typically are counterproductive, because they just result in long discussions here. I suggest that perhaps in order to prevent drift into worse problems, we consider asking Hammer not to make any XfD closes at all, or as a minimum and speedy XfD closes. There are enough other people to do them. DGG (talk) 23:37, 12 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Severely troutslap Hammer for a really lousy closing statement, one that seemed certain to escalate rather than defuse any conflict, and consider a merge. I've begun the discussion at Talk:Paula Jones#Merge. Chick Bowen 03:40, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse this is an undeniably notable event and an article that provides sources to support the claim. While there might -- repeat, might -- have been an issue if there were no sources whatsoever in the article, the reliable and verifiable sources support the claim of notability and the close appears to be fully within process. The Wikipedia gold standard that articles and the statements therein backed by reliable and verifiable sources are retained is one that needs to be respected. Alansohn (talk) 04:13, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment I, the original nominator, want to let everyone here know that I have since proposed merging the article with Clinton v. Jones or renaming, the issues in my nomination, at Talk:Troopergate_(Bill_Clinton)#Renaming. When I did that, the "speedy keep" is thrown in my face by User:Pharmboy (who has four posts in this DRV and one in the AFD). This is really tiresome, I thought if the other Troopergates don't use that name in the article title neither should this. What makes it even more compelling is all the information was at Paula_Jones#Jones_v._Clinton which makes the article redundant. This is very disappointing. We66er (talk) 04:51, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- That didn't look "thrown in your face" to me. It appeared to be merely a mention of it. And just because it is mentioned in the Paula Jones article doesn't mean there can't be an article on a specific incident that goes into more detail. For example, staying with the "Troopergates", the "Palin Troopergate" scandal is mentioned in Palin's article...I'm not seeing any suggestion for a merge there. Or the OJ Simpson murder case has it's own article, but also get a mention in the Juice's page. You need to convince people this event is insignificant enough to not warrant a separate article. And, to be blunt, you're not doing that. --UsaSatsui (talk) 05:15, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Basically the Paula_Jones#Jones_v._Clinton contains the Clinton-Troopergate article. Everything about Troopergate has relevancely in Jones_v._Clinton. It's the reason she filed the lawsuit (to set the record straight after she said Brock defamed her)! As I asked above and in the AFD that was closed: What can be covered in troopergate that is not covered or relevant in the Jones (or subsection-Jones v Clinton) article? It's all about her. No one explained how troopergate is separate from Paula_Jones#Jones_v._Clinton or how troopergate- the pejorative term from David Brock, complies with NPOV for a article title. My two issues in the first AFD. We66er (talk) 05:31, 13 October 2008 (UTC) We66er (talk) 05:36, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Overturn and reclose as speedy keep I may have been hasty with my claim of 'bad faith' with my first vote, and that may have contributed to the line of votes following and the closing decision by TPH, who is someone I look up to in the AfD process. But as I read it when I chose to speedy keep, it read as if the nominator was objecting to this case at the expense of the Palin version of Troopergate, and I was trying to say that the notability of this event is not trumped just because of the newer Troopergate, so I thought the nomination was not neutrally stated. I apologize to We66er for my bad faith claim and in hindsight I could have stated my argument in another way. However I feel that no matter the case, the article should be kept because it can be sourced, and no matter the possibility of untruth with those involved, they did get media attention that was notable. Nate • (chatter) 05:39, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Overturn and close as speedy keep and strike any mention of bad faith in the close. - This clearly was not a bad faith nomination. The nominator felt that the article itself need to have enough reliable sources in it to meet WP:N. While not a prevailing view in Wikipedia, there is enough editors who hold that view to make it a reasonable, usually unsuccessful, AfD position. The AfD nominator also appeared to feel that troopergate name of the article could only lead to a POV article not capable of being fixed - a reasonable basis to request deletion, even though there are better process (such as a name change request) to address such a concern. Without a nail, no hammer should have been brought down on the AfD nominator. -- Suntag ☼ 16:08, 13 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Overturn closure and relist the debate. It will likely end in a "keep" but the nomination did not meet any of the criteria for Speedy keep. Premature closes are bad for the project and undermine our editors' confidence in the integrity of our decision processes. Let the system work. Process is important. Five days with a tag is not a high cost. Rossami (talk) 21:50, 17 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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