As one who has had occasion to fall foul of the rules, I'm (still) here to say that I've learned from those instances. My initial feeling about this place was that it was like participating in discussions at the bar of the local aero club. It initially saddened me to reach the revelation that this analogy was well wide of the mark.
Not to say I won't make a further faux pas or two in the future, but at least I know there's quite a high degree of tolerance exercised by admins and moderators. It really saddens me that lame went that bit too far, but because of my own experiences on the receiving end of a tongue lashing, I believe he became his own worst enemy.
I also believe that, if D+G dies, it will only be because we have all become our own worst enemies. We've been heading down that track for quite a while now and we're the only ones who can reverse the course. Let's all recognise that old bit of discretion about VFR flight into deteriorating wx and do a 180 now, before we crash, burn and die.