I noted that Howard Rheingold was asking the other day about closing off comments on his site because of spamming. Tonight, a Bush booster, who goes by the name "slyskunk," posted "George Bush is the GREATEST!!!!!" on a number of articles. The guy's site is not without some creativity, sort of a Bush troglodyte Onion, but without the wit -- it just looks funny if you want to grunt in agreement, as one would if they were listening to Rush Limbaugh.
Anyhow, I am not thinking about closing comments. I could delete them, but I won't. Here's the message I sent to Slyskunk:
Slyskunk....George Bush is the greatest what? Disaster at president? Over-achiever silver-spoon frat boy?
I'm not going to delete your postings, because their lack of interest in discussing any issues speak for themselves.
Thing is, you have to be willing to take even the densest feedback in stride if you want to write in public. A fierce reply is often the best medicine, for the writer and the source of the idiotic commenter. I will delete viagra or other spam, but, for now, I will not delete this think-less crap.