'Tis The Season For Mudslinging

Nothing gets that holiday season name calling flowing more fluidly than mentioning H-1B visas.The ongoing debate about whether the United States should allow more foreign technology workers into the country always seems to get people on both sides of the argument really riled up.

And so, a recent blog I posted about a "new study from the National Foundation for American Policy" on the impact of the H-1B visa cap is enticing a lot of readers -- and a few subject experts -- to vent.

For the most part, the ongoing forum discussion is pretty fascinating, with colorful exchanges of opinion and information -- as well as analysis of data (from the NFAP study and elsewhere) that both supports and demerits the need for H-1B visa workers, depending upon what side of the fence you're sitting on and how you look at the numbers.

But with 200-plus reader comments on a very heated issue, you knew it was only a matter of time before passionate, intelligent debate veered into heart-felt heckling.

Among the insults:

"Liar" "Shameless Liar" "Perpetual Liar" "Idiot" "Lobbyist" (that's a bad word, right?) "You foreign worker" (as in "go back home") "Arrogant" "Hypocrite" "Childish and silly" "Closed-minded bigot" "Welfare kings and queens"

And last but not least,

"Self-serving megalomania"

Hey, guys and gals, it's the holiday time, a season for peace and goodwill, right? Can't we all play nice for a bit? You can pull the boxing gloves back on Jan. 2.

And in the meantime, you have a few weeks to think of some new insults to hurl next time. :-)