== Preparing for reconciliation == 

 I want the BD RfC resolved, or at least put in the past.  I'm asking him to answer the RfC.  I respect your reasons and intentions for bringing the RfC and the usefulness of RfCs to WP culture.  This user did have it coming.  However, this particular RfC is very dependent on characterizations of comments, rather than hardcore facts (which do exist) for its weight.  Characterizations are often very POV in and of themselves, and accurate ones usually include points valid to each side.  Many false accusations of "vandalism" were thrown around at one point; this certainly could not have given the user any confidence in the credibility of the "team" involved.  Also, this isn't, in the grand scheme of things, the biggest deal in the world.  To help those involved to prepare for this reconciliation (I am sending this identical message to the three original signatories), I am asking them to: 

 *Go over your own edit history with respect to the user, in detail, with the same scrupulousness with which you have examined his.  View it as an adversary might.  This requires time and work. 
 #Identify anything, directed at the user or referring to him, that has been a violation of WP policy, or could be construed as such, including the possible inadvertant deletion of a user's text on a talk page by someone that, technically, was a violation of vandalism policy, and later reverted by an admin.  Because RfCs involve behavior before and after they are brought, do not limit your review to pre-RfC history. 
 #Identify all comments you have made that could be misconstrued as an "attack"  based, of course, on the same standards which the other user is being held to.  Recognize how unforgiving edit histories are. 
 #Then, apologize to the user in advance for any and all of these things which you have done, even if his sins are greater than your own.  This is known in Wikiquette as admitting one's mistakes. 
 *Give the user some credit  to his face  for identifying the bias in the Rove article (the NPOV tag I added has never been seriously questioned, has it?), and for the reasonableness, if not the certainty, of a newbie making conclusions, however silly, of a liberal "cabal" or clique at WP (indicated by comments such as "Sticking together on Rove"). 
 *Let the user know you're not perfect, and will happily accept an apology from him as well. 
 *If the user chooses not to give the answer he is being asked to give, be prepared to move on. 

 You can never pile too much love onto an adversary.  It's called "heaping coals on their head."  I'm asking this user to swallow his pride and admit his errors.  Let's all be prepared to do the same.  This may require us helping him to find ways to save face.  We all screw up from time to time.  We all require grace.  If I've made any errors, let me know as well. 

 If it only took one sin to be damned to hell, we'd all be damned to hell.  Once we were there, would there by any point in arguing about who's sins were worse?  Hardly.