As an American, I refuse to do this. The purpose of written language is to share information. When using a quote, you'ra trying to share what was said/written.

As an American, I refuse to do this. The purpose of written language is to share information. When using a quote, you'ra trying to share what was said/written. Ergo, adding arbitrary punctuation when it wasn't in the original quote defeats both the purpose of the quote and the writing.