>I'm amazed at how many of the comments in this thread appear to be about issues thoroughly discussed in the submitted article, but unresponsive to what the submitted article said.

I'm not, unfortunately. It seems like most people read a headline and perhaps a paragraph or two, then active their pre-existing beliefs about whatever the subject happens to me, and move on from there. That's certainly been my experience with commenters on my blog, anyway, and it's been experience in observing both online communities and in reading student papers.