This is one of those things that the moderation system was designed to clean up, and for the most part, it works. It seems like the quality of comment posts is declining. We have a moderation system. Since this system is essentially an experiment in trying to solve the problems inherent in mass communication, one would expect its success to be variable, and indeed, this is the case. Some days it works great, and some days it doesn't.
Moderation seems restrictive.
In short, yes. In fact, some are down right terrible, but others are truly gems. The moderation system is designed to sort the gems and the crap from the steady stream of information that flows through the pipe. And wherever possible, it tries to make the readers of the site take on the responsibility. The impatient can read nothing at all but the original stories.