Usually it bugs me when he knocks lefty bloggers for foul comments, just because if you have a site with any kind of traffic you’re bound to have a crank infestation to some degree. This time is different. For one thing, as chronicled by Patterico in excruciating detail this weekend, the LAT moderates all comments; everything that appears is apparently read and approved by an editor — or disapproved, in the case of Patterico himself chiming in to call the cretins over there dicks. Beyond that, it’s no secret per the sheer volume of death-wish crap after a prominent conservative dies that some lefty sites have an especially nuanced relationship with commenters like these. O’Reilly goes out of his way to congratulate Arianna on keeping HuffPo clean this time, but she’s only reached that point now because her site’s so notorious for vileness on these occasions that they don’t even bother opening comments anymore.

Good work by Patterico, though, in riding the Times. Hard to believe Fox would have picked up the story without him. Exit question: What’s with all the tough-guy talk from O’Reilly about making people “pay”? Does he think someone willing to piss on Tony Snow’s grave is going to relent now that they know they’ve managed to upset Bill O’Reilly?

Link: sevenload.com