Ed commented in the general tone of HN. His comment was unexceptional, except that later events called it out as such. Focusing on Ed is counter-productive.

Ed commented in the general tone of HN. His comment was unexceptional, except that later events called it out as such. Focusing on Ed is counter-productive. What should be the topic is the harmful, negative and alienating tone that HN comments adopt. The upvotes that such comments garner show that they are not individual actions, but rather the result of community incentives. I'd like to hear suggestions of how to cultivate useful, supportive, productive comment threads. That is, of course, if the community decides it wants to change, rather than just heaping scorn on a single instance of a systematic problem.