But... how are we to come to a Forum Committee verdict on whether or not the other party was in the wrong too and whether LilMak was justified?
Wiley.
Nobody implied he was justified. However, the mods are now notorious for having a double standard when it suits them.
A mod once told me to stop calling people names after I was the one who had been called one--he blamed me for what the other person said. When I explained the error politely I got muted while the name-caller blathered on. This is not an isolated case. They do this enough to exceed nuisance-level.
Fair and just application of the rules is hardly too much to ask.