• Lack of a specific rule against a certain behavior does not indicate acceptance of that behavior.
• Each of us has a limited amount of time in this world: Don't be a jerk.

The moderators' goal is to make the community a good place to talk, debate, discuss, and enjoy each others' company. We are not going to be used to make someone's life miserable.

We are focused on outcomes, not process. If applying a rule the way we usually do would produce the wrong outcome, then we're not going to apply the rule that way. Creating a good community outweighs the need to follow a “consistent” process or to treat everyone equally. Inconsistent processes can give the appearance of fickleness and chaos, so we try to be consistent. When faced with the choice of creating a good community or being “consistent”, we choose creating a good community.

You don't have “right” to an appeal, and you don't have a “right” to demand we follow some specific process.

We might make a choice the first time something happens and then realise, having learned from that situation, that it was the wrong choice. We might moderate future similar situations differently.

Just because we made a decision a certain way once or twice, that doesn't mean much for the 3rd or 4th similar situation. After we've made dozens or hundreds of similar determinations, precedent matters. But still: see the point about outcomes, not process.