I've noticed that it doesn't matter much where the newspaper is published - OC, Palm Springs, Portland, OR., Manchester, NH., etc - the trash comments are all pretty much the same whenever there's an account of a hiker/climber who was injured/died/rescued, etc. Regrettably, there's a certain "same-ness" to it.
Acceptance of hate speech has become a part of the U.S. culture. Heard an interesting bit on NPR recently, which reported on how many European countries have laws protecting free speech, while outlawing hate speech.