I began this RFA because I genuinely felt (and continue to feel) that the Arbitration Committee made the wrong decision, and I wanted to make sure that the community agreed (or not). In the spirit of "SNOW" (which I've even pushed for other projects to adopt), I'm closing this request early. There's still a possibility that this request could pass. But there's an even greater possibility that it could further split the community, something I do not want to be responsible for. And some of the opposers are people I trust a great deal; until there is less opposition to a new request for adminship, I will remain an editor.
Re-confirmation requests are always substantially harder than non-re-confirmation requests because rather than judging how a candidate might do, you are able to judge how they've done in the past with the tools. Given my level of activeness, especially in sometimes contentious areas like AFD, it's unsurprising that I have my fair share of critics. And deservedly so, in some cases. However, I've always acted in what I felt was the best interests of the project. Sometimes it didn't fall in line with what the majority of people who decided to participate in a particular debate wanted, but I tried to enforce our core principles and values at all times.
Some of the support comments made here have been truly kind and unexpected. Some of the oppose comments have been particularly constructive and I've taken them to heart.
That said, some of the other oppose comments were spite-filled and hateful. This darker side of the community, the unforgiving, name-calling, petulant side is what scares so many editors away (or drains them into leaving).
For my part, as soon as this request closes, I'm taking a break (cf. User talk:MZMcBride#Break). All things considered, I think I did well (or better than how most people thought I would do). I'm proud of some of the commenters here who take DefendEachOther seriously.
I want to take this time to point to User talk:MZMcBride#Redressing grievances. Since I won't be editing, you're still more than welcome to leave notes on my talk page or write an e-mail. If there are particular actions or edits to be reversed or undone, I'll take care of them when I return.
Thank you all for the time and I apologize for any inconvenience. --MZMcBride (talk) 02:58, 9 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]