No one is asking to you to come and read the comments. The small minded conversations which you are talking about are obviously getting upvoted both other Hacker News participants - which leads me to believe there is some credence to it. Why don't you take a stab at writing something positive and see how the community reacts rather than spreading the negativity..

I think he made a valid contribution. He is pushing that we keep comments civil and useful. The comments he mentioned do neither and drag down the discussion and promote discord in the community.

I'm not sure why his comment warrants such a hostile reaction when it is in the interest of the community that people engage in self-moderation and policing to keep it healthy.

Additionally, even if the attacks on Pogue's personality granted it credence, I personally feel it doesn't belong here and isn't useful for any of us to spend our time as if we're judges in a tech scene popularity contest.

The more interesting discussion is about how this could be relevant to Yahoo and their attempt to change direction. Or if this type of move is a harmful trend for the Times, such as how they lost Nate Silver.