Let’s Be Civil

The other day someone at work took down an illegal copyright violation from our site, and wrote a note in its place explaining that he’d done so. A giant controversy developed, stopping just barely short of him being called a Nazi, and with several references to it being a clear example of censorship and with several people threatening to contact lawyers because their First Amendment rights had been violated.

Our existing game provider shut down the service we were using, so we moved to the best alternative we could find. Our site is overrun with people talking about how they’re going to leave if we don’t change back (to the service that no longer exists, as of Friday), and how it’s clearly just us trying to penny-pinch and screw them over. (Aside: we’re a free site.)

A huge water main broke just up the street from where I live, causing MWRA to have to pull unfiltered water directly from reservoirs, so they’re advising everyone to boil their drinking water until they’re able to fix the break. Most of the comments are baseless accusations or just hate-filled. The installers of the pipe, one commenter notes, were probably union, so they cared more about benefits and bribes than doing the job right. In fact, they probably got kickbacks for using substandard equipment. Someone else questions what country the pipe was made in. Another commenter compares the failed pipe to the Big Dig, suggesting that nothing the state does ever works. Someone discusses how Mayor Menino was on the news talking about it, but his instructions were inarticulate and it’s just another sign that he needs to be replaced. There’s a feud about whether Obama or Bush would have handled the disaster better, with references to Katrina. I expect the birthers to come in any minute, and for that to attract 9/11 truthers.

Seriously, why is that everyone with a stick up their ass feels compelled to comment on every news article published with irrelevant, misinformed, inflammatory blather?