Many thoughts and theories. One reader writes,

Jay,
It’s because NRO has no comment boards. To be able to anonymously flame an article you didn’t like is practically a birthright on the Internet. Websites like NRO that lack a traditional outlet [“traditional” already!] are bound to find the outrage spilling into e-mail.
Print, on the other hand, has always been a one-way medium. Conditioning is everything.

And I have had many notes going something like this:

Mr. Nordlinger,
The hate mail you receive, in the form of e-mails, represents a reptilian action: immediate, rapid response. The instinct is to inflict death or severe pain on a perceived threat. Writing a letter, pen to paper, is something else. It takes money, for the stationery, stamp, etc. It takes time — and some thought that accompanies the time. You usually have to sign your letter — you have to identify yourself. And you have to walk 50 feet (or more) to place the letter in a steel box with an eagle on it. Very old-school.
A hate e-mail represents just a quick, cathartic burst — cathartic for the e-mail-writer.

Makes some sense. I must say, I’m not used to the no salutation, no signature thing. It seems so — primitive and rude: like intrusive grunting. It’s not just the average ACORN-ite who operates this way. As I mentioned on the Corner the other day, I had an e-mail from a critic of mine at Salon.com. No salutation, not even a “Hey, a**hole.” No signature. I figured out who it was because he linked to his own piece, and he had an e-mail address.

You know how Atlanta used to call itself “The City Too Busy to Hate”? (Maybe it still does.) Some people are just too busy hatin’ even to say hey!