Dueling spam

Since switching over to typepad, I've been delighted by the quality of the comments and commenters here. (If you're not reading the comments, you're missing out on most of the best lines.)

Except, that is, for one guy named "Viagra." His comments don't have anything to do with the post in question — he just wants to talk about erectile dysfunction. It's kind of rude when everybody else is talking about, say, Nathanael West's heartbreaking novel "Miss Lonelyhearts" and some stranger wanders in blabbing on about erectile dysfunction.

Now somebody else, some guy named "Cialis," is trying to pick a fight with Viagra. I'm all for a vigorous, even a heated, debate in the comments, but I would prefer that debate be between commenters, not dueling spammers.

Sigh. I'm going to have to learn how that "block commenter" function works.

P.S. It's kind of strange that the Cialis spam includes all of those cautionary phrases required by the legal department for legitimate advertisements. Dude — you're a spammer. Since when did spammers try to keep the legal department happy?