This piece contains repeated profanity, Nazi slurs, and questions about the size of a man's genitalia. Read on at your own peril.

In late April, the "contact us" form on the Peoria, Illinois, website experienced a sudden deluge of traffic. People from across the country wanted to let Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis know—in as profane a manner as possible—what they thought of his decision to get local police involved in a dispute over a Twitter account that used his name. Typical of the messages was this one from "Adolf Hitler" at e-mail address "nazilove@yahoo.com":

Jim glad to hear that you're doing the right thing and keeping the Nazi dream alive. Sending the police after those comedians Gestapo style definitely got a cheer down here in hell. Keep up the oppression of the people you're doing a great job.

It was soon followed by a friendly note from "Benjamin Franklin" who suggested that Ardis "should move to Russia or china and be a man slut."

Thanks to a public records request filed with the city of Peoria, Ars Technica has obtained hundreds of pages of such comments. If you've ever wondered whether anonymous Internet comments get more reasoned when not destined for public consumption, we have the answer—and it's a resounding no.

I’m up all night to get lucky...

Peoria came to national attention over the last few weeks in the wake of a police raid on a local home sparked by a foul-mouthed Twitter account opened in Ardis' name. Though the account had fewer than 50 followers, City Hall asked the police to investigate. The police initially concluded that no laws had been broken, but then found a newly passed law that might apply.

They obtained four search warrants from local judges, getting information from Twitter and Comcast before ultimately raiding a local home in search of the culprit. There, the cops found some marijuana and plenty of electronic gadgets, which they planned to search for evidence; they also led several people down to the police department for questioning, where they sat in interrogation rooms for several hours. In the end, everyone was released except for the homeowner, who was hit with a marijuana possession charge.

Once the whole issue became public, however, the local state's attorney declined to prosecute the case, saying the statute in question didn't actually apply. The ACLU has since helped the rogue tweeter sue the city over alleged violations on free speech and unreasonable search and seizure grounds, and the police chief has stepped down to take a global security job with Caterpillar, which is based in Peoria.

As for Ardis, he won't let the matter drop. In a press conference last week, he said that he was still "exploring false light and defamation as well as other actions against those responsible for the placing and hosting of the libelous comments."

And he maintained his view that comments can't be considered "parodic" if they contain vulgar language (which the initial tweets certainly did). In order to goad "the media" into publishing the content of the tweets, Ardis then decided to read some of them, which led to the dignity-defying spectacle of Peoria's mayor saying things to the camera like, "I’m up all night woke up with pussy on my breath and blood shot eyes” and "I'll be signing titties."(Watch the video below beginning at 2:40.)

Not surprisingly, Internet commenters struggled to see things as Ardis did. As the Twitter story went national and then international, hundreds of people flocked to the city's website to let Ardis know what they thought of his actions. The comments were uniformly negative. Let's take a look.

Scatology 101

The overriding theme of the comments was visceral disgust at Ardis' actions, often expressed in terms of pure insult. Here are some of the choicest, with their original spellings and punctuation:

"You suck ass you big PUSSY." "I'm Jim Ardis and I like drugs and little boys. Come find ME you rotten sonofabitch." "I think you are disgusting corrupted cock sucker for doing this" "only a corrupt oozing sore of depravity would use law enforcement outside their jurisdiction to punish a fake twitter account at the expense of your constituents. go take a long hard look in the mirror, you arrogant piece of shit." "you piece of shit! sicing your dogs on a twitter account! FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!! this is america asshole" "How's your ass feel? You must feel like you just visited Bubba in prison... Here's to being a total fool for the rest of your life, loser!" "Hey Mayor, stop being a whoring drug user you waste of human space... East shit, asshole." "You're a little dick piece of shit." "Good your scum, garbage. Your Anti America and Anti Freedom of speech." "This is no parody. I am just saying the mayor is a dick and likes his private police force. What a dick!? Whats wrong, a parody site touch a little too close to home?" (Subject line: "Jim Ardis is a dick")

Peoria’s Führer

Even under the layers of insult and profanity, most comments made some kind of case that Ardis and the local police had abused their power. As one commenter put it, "The God King Jim Ardis may wish to rule his empire with computer disregard for his subject's Constitutional rights, but his benevolence is a fool if He believes no one will find out or care."

Few others even reached for this sort of complex sentence construction, however, going instead right for the Full Godwin:

"Siege Heil!!! So you guys are the new brownshirts. Good job. Now we know where Hitler got his goons." "I see Gauleiter Ardis is using the local Polizei to suppress crimethought and hatethink." "Go to Hell Hitler" "Don't you feel like using armed militia paid for by citizen taxes to handle your own grudges is something a fascist would do? Because it certainly reminds me of something that the Black Shirts in Italy or the Brown Shirts in Germany pre 1938 would have done." "Congratulations to Mayor Ardis proudly holding the traditions of the Third Reich alive and well in 2014... Put your boot on the people. Show them who is the God in their life. Who they should worship Herr Jim Ardiz b Zeig Heil!... Keep that right arm in a 45 degree angle Jim." "Dear Hitler, I'm going to start a parody twitter account of you and I live far outside your jurisdiction and never heard of you until today. Way to go, Hitler." "Heinrich Himmler would've been proud you Nazi-like Dbag! Hail Ardis!" "Hey mayor, Hitler would be proud of you. You thin skinned piece of shit... It was a parody account you pussy. You can't handle it then go be a Walmart greeter... You're wife and her mustache are bigger men than you."

Others phrased their Nazi insults, like answers on Jeopardy, in the form of a question:

"Wasn't Peoria IL where the Neo-Nazi's were from in "Blue Brothers"? Yeah, figures! Ardis - you are such a duche." "Ever heard of parody you fascist thin skinned Nazi cock sucker?" "What is wrong with you? Hitler in training?"

Still others, perhaps aware that full-on Hitler comparisons might come across as overwrought, contented themselves with generic charges of "fascism":

"You're a fascist twat." "Screw you and your fascist little regime, ya gasbag." "What a thin skinned jack-ass you are. You going to send jack-booted thugs to my house?" "Do you goosestep into chambers when attending city council meetings? Fascist pig." "Viva el Presidente! Lets make Peoria a 3rd word dictatorship. Good job Duce Ardis going after opposition."

Maybe you’ve heard of “the Constitution”?

Plenty of commenters wanted to let Ardis know that the United States is governed by a constitution which has a first amendment. Maybe he's heard of it?

"Why do you piss on the first and 4th amendments you punk ass little bitch? Someone needs to punch you in your pussy you weak little cock sucker." "Are you aware of something called the First Amendment? Any citizen can express his views without being harassed by police." "I just wanted to let you know that the US constitution protects something call 'free speech.' This is the concept that says the government won't control what people say to each other (except in the case of true defamation or hate speech), as they did in countries like Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, or The Soviet Union." "Seems if you weren't involved in shady activities, you'd be unbothered by a little parody. Methinks you protest too much - I just don't appreciate you STEPPING ALL OVER THE FIRST AMENDMENT while doing it, you Nazi." "I wish the worst for you and I promise to donate as much as I can afford to whoever is running against you at the next election. I hope the citizens of Peoria see you as a disgusting, hateful, 1st-amendment hating crook that you are and swiftly vote you out once and for all from politics."

"Cajones"

Others speculated that the whole Twitter debacle was caused by a severe lack of testosterone—and that therefore Ardis wasn't a "man" but a baby, a child, a woman, or a eunuch.

"What a stupid little baby you are. Have a nice day... you big baby." "you have no Cajones if you were any kind of badass you would have handled the situation yourself. You probably suffer from having a small penis you wimp... good job dickhead." "You spineless little douche bag! Why don't you grow some balls pussy! Pissant!" "I'm sorry constituents, it seem's that I cannot use the local police force to intimidate and terrorize soverien citizens. I guess I'll just have to call my mommy instead. Oh what a douche I am!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like Obama!

The attacks had a political dimension as well, with several commenters assuming that Ardis must be a member of whatever political party they themselves despise most. (The Peoria mayor appears to be a nonpartisan position.)

"Typical Dem liberal dick!" "You are now famous as a suppressor of rights and generally regarded as a fascist. Rumor has it that you are a Republican. If so, please get the hell out of my party and become a Democrat. They are the party known for having no sense of humor and using government power against citizens." "You're a complete and utter, gutless turd! Typical democrat shitbird, who abuses his power. What's a matter fucktard, you pussy hurt, because a Twitter account with 50 people following it made fun of your cowardice ass? What an anti American shitbird! You will be voted out of office nerd." "I am guessing you are a Democrat or Progressive or Liberal... we now know what else you are. A totalitarian jerk." "Since when did America turn into a communist country or a Provence of North Korea? Issuing illegal orders to the police... You might think you can so [do?] stuff like Barrack Obama but you can't in the United States" "u loser. your a clown just like our president & v.p., your a joke dude, everybody's laughing at your goofy ass on the internet."

The world is watching

Those tuning in to the Peoria saga from afar also made sure to let Ardis know just how far news of his situation had spread:

"I'm in NY and never heard of your dumb drug using, slut banging self until you decided to act like a spanked child and scream and cry... Take care Hitler, my advice is to start banging hookers again and leave the lowly serfs to be.... May you clutch your chest and collapse from a heart attack." "Laughing at you coast to coast and now, even in Montana." "Although I am a resident of California I felt encouraged to write this message about your pathetic little doctrine... You sir, rank way up there right next to Bob Filner and Rod Blagojevich." "I live in Vancouver Canada and our Mayor thank God has a sense of humour. Perhaps, it would be advisable for you to relax and take it easy. It is good for the heart. It prolongs life. Your job is already very stressful."

Ha-HA!

A couple of commenters, while still disagreeing with the way the whole situation had been handled, nevertheless steered clear of angry profanity and aimed instead for biting humor:

"I was wondering if you have another twitter account I could follow and mock relentlessly?" "I will be mocking you at the dinner table this evening. I will await your stormtroopers with some fresh coffee and rolls. Phone ahead."

Reasoned discourse?

Amid the cesspool, several people did express respectful disagreement—an approach which seemed to correlate with providing actual contact information (rather than, say, a phone number of 1-800-FUK-ARDIS), giving a real name (instead of "Ardis the Fartist"), and living in the Peoria area. Here's how one professor at nearby Bradley University let Ardis know that he had lost her trust:

"I voted for you in the past, but you will not have my vote in the future. I do not vote for people who abuse the power their office gives them. A multiple police raid at different locations against someone exercising free speech? For shame!"

The difference it makes

The whole saga offers us a peek behind the curtain at what it's like to be "Internet Enemy #1" for a day.

Reading through hundreds and hundreds of these comments, I felt both encouraged and depressed. Encouraged because, rather than a shrug of the shoulders, Americans still care about even petty examples of government overreach and have no fear of expressing that concern directly to political leaders—attitudes not true in many parts of the world. And depressed because, at the level of political discourse, this concern was expressed in the ways least calculated to change anyone's mind.

"Internet comments" have had a bad reputation for years, of course (recall the famous Penny Arcade comic from 2004 as seen above). This may be unfair as a blanket characterization, but it's certainly not a wholly inaccurate stereotype. In Peoria, Ardis has repeatedly singled out the tone and profanity of the tweets as their most offensive aspect—one can see him harping on the point during e-mail conversations with the city's then-police chief.

Which is why the flood of opprobrium received through the city's comment form seems likely to feel, from Ardis' perspective, like more of the same, an "Internet pile-on" more likely to confirm his belief in the righteousness of his cause than anything else. Being a raging jackass in anonymous online postings might feel supremely cathartic; it's just not necessarily a good way to bring about one's desired change.