Some of the discussions through comments at this blog have been long and involved, and I thank all the participants for making this a more interesting place.
Comments here on WordPress can use HTML, so I wanted to give a couple of suggestions in case you want to make comments a little easier to read.
To quote a previous post or comment: surround the quoted material with <blockquote> and </blockquote>.
To italicize something: surround the words to be italicized with <em> and </em>.
To insert a hyperlink: surround the text to get the link like this: <a href=”entire URL goes here”> and </a>.
And it doesn’t hurt to start with the name of the person you’re replying to.  Example:

Frank:

<blockquote>That was a savagely witty comment.</blockquote>

Thanks!  You’ll find <em>nothing but</em> savage wit at <a href=”http://crossexaminedblog.com/“>Cross Examined</a>.

Becomes:

Frank:

That was a savagely witty comment.

Thanks!  You’ll find nothing but savage wit at Cross Examined.

Related links:

• HTML 4.0 specification, 1977