You make a request to have a thread closed, the staff does it. You request to re-open a thread, the staff does it. You request to have posts edited and the staff does it. I tried to figure out why in a previous post and Mike jumped all over it, so the why, I guess, is irrelevant.
I've also wondered why XF staff was so supportive in favour of Jon in all those threads. Special treatment for the developer with the most add-ons?