It's a shame, but sometimes the most colorful 'characters' in a community can be the worst offenders. Maybe the mods were worried that Dan was going to start an avalanche of threadcrapping. I personally think threadcrap should be allowed on some level, but putting your thumb in the Mods' collective eyes isn't wise, especially while the policy is still in effect. Hopefully Dan will be back and not so upset over the spanking that he winds up permabanned. That's always the problem -- a banning is very public, and it's very tempting to be defiant. Mods don't get paid, so the least they should expect is a little respect.
