True, commenting has become a joyless chore without that simple community feed back. I hope all these new advertisers realize how many hits they are losing from loyal IA readers and commenters who simply don't log in nearly as much as they used to.
sounds like a dude who (1) has never had to balance a budget in his life, and (2) wants all those services (roads, drinking water, access to public lands, etc.) but doesn't want to have to pay for any of them himself.
Bring back up/down comment voting.
That is all.