I don't think this was a disagreement between LONL and the admin... I don't even think the admin knew about it.
The problem I see here is LONL didn't just delete his posts, he deleted everyone else's which is poor forum etiquette. I didn't have issues with LONL before and he seemed like a very helpful member but his latest actions has tainted my opinion of him. Just the fact that he's sending messages through another member is weird.
I'm sure he's an upstanding guy but if you're going to go all scorched earth because you can't take a joke about your own poll/actions, then maybe the Internet is not for you. And once you start thinking that your presence/posts are a privilege to this forum and that you have the right to do whatever you want because of the information you provide... well... no one is that special. TI exists as a community and its members working together to provide organized content and discussion. No one member is more important than the other. I don't think I have any more "rights" to post on TI than anyone else, nor do I think my posts are proprietary property that is a gift to mankind.
Maybe his bosses did tell him to delete his posts. But if that were the case why did he say "I know what gets me in trouble so don't worry about me" when we would tell him to be careful?
Maybe his co-workers knew who he was and his latest antics made him look a bit petty and maybe that's why he nuked them.
I would agree with bones that TI is losing the value of LONL's future posts but if the cost is that member thinking they have the right to do whatever they want and can't be subject to criticism... well... TI was fine before and TI will be fine after.
I vote for restoring his threads even if it means nuking the last 2 days of posts (including this TL;dr soliloquy), because:
1. No member should have their posts deleted without their consent (unless their post breaks forum rules)
2. What goes on in TI should stay in TI
TI Time Machine gooooooo!!
P.S. If LONL has issues with me personally, he is free to PM me.