Heh, whoa, tl;dr. I think you guys are doing a better than average job here, However, I do sometimes think that banned topics aren't banable, but all future responses COULD be... tough call to make. It's all about context.
Don't beat yourself up about the hot air that follows your work. I'm glad you have a methodology and a moral center... Wade seems like a good boss. He is, isn't he? Or is it more like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagull_manager
Asandir
Just happy that I get no bad points for unpublishing 3 shovelware games in a row ^^
Aside from that, looks like a decent method. It could be difficult for a forum mod to make normal posts inbetween their duties, especially if there are no other forum mods online. I surely notice times where I am the only portal mod online, so that might be something to take into consideration.
Sheizenhammer
That's why I threw the confirmation stage in there. We all have our busy periods, after all, but if it looks like someone is only ever interested in the 'busy periods' then you have to wonder why they're really coming here. I've yet to see a period of heavy BBS abuse last more than a couple of days in a row, which should average out to lock messages almost always being in a small minority provided said someone isn't solely interested in locking things. ;)