But when he crosses into religious and ethnic slurs and personal attacks, it's no longer about an open debate of ideas, it's about attacking cultures, races, and individual BBS members

I think, the offending posts are never a debate of ideas, his "more creative" posts sometimes are. But do you really think, words like "sandniggers, ragheads" or similar words are attacking cultures, races or even BBS-members? Perhaps i have an other level of feeling offended, i don't know if it's me in person or because i belong to an other culture, but it takes a lot to make me feel attacked just by words. Words typed by someone i don't know personally. Would be something different, if those words came from someone i met and know at least a little bit.

If he doesn't draw a reaction, he keeps reeling off more and more inflammatory comments until someone snaps. Once the thread is poisoned with responses to his trolling, he loses interest and moves on

good point, but this shows for me the fact, that he's trolling for being a troll, and not to hit someone special. He flames the one who snapped.

For instance, we have had good political debates in some of the threads here recently completely derailed by this. You say you laugh at it and ignore it

don't get me wrong. I don't laugh about the ones who react, it's just the obviousness of his comments, which make me laugh, or sometimes make me think "Ohh no, Yz, not so often..."

He sees this somehow as his job on the BBS,

Right, and we should be glad we have only him. I don't know any other Board without many trolls, and even ignore-features or banning will help them out. I also saw a good german car-related board go down, because the only things to read about were about the "bad guys"
I don't want to say he's doing a good job, i just want to calm down everybody a little bit.

Maybe you're okay with it, and get a chuckle out of it, but he's attacking a resource (this forum) that a lot of us really enjoy, and that's why we get pissed off.

No, you didn't get me right. I'm not OK with it, but i can (for me) deal with it. Don't think of me sitting here laughing loud about "sandniggers" I don't even chuckle.
As i have said before, i love this community and i give it the title "best community on the whole web" anytime someone asks me what the hell i'm doing in front of my computer for hours and hours. And i can fully understand, why you are pissed off. I am, too, only not as worse...

Thomas