That's a
matter of wording. GM proposed this using the language of
statement (an effective technique to get things done). Ultimately, if
enough are/were opposed to the proposal, it wouldn't be carried out.
Sometimes wording is important. Wikipedia always requires positive
consensus, not negative. If we can't agree on something, we stick with
the status quo. GM's email is worded as if he intends this to work the
other way around, and he has no authority to decide that.
The fact is that it takes
more than a consensus to get things done. If
there is a general and obvious consensus to do something, and nobody
accepts the responsibility to act upon that consensus, then the
consensus might just as well have been to do nothing.
Ec