Seems to me that a moderator (or, more precisely, a board owner) that has any desire to maintain his/her effectiveness has a responsibility to either privately admonish a user that's posting inappropriately, or to restrict his/her posting ability rather than to make publically insulting remarks about said poster, regardless of the history.

That is, if the moderator wishes to have respect from others in the community, he should lead by example.

But surely, judging by past actions, that's way too much to hope for here.