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I was reviewing the "Low Quality Post" queue and came across an answer from a new user that (a) criticized a comment on the post and (b) gave a link to a reasonably good explanation of the answer. The post already had a comment that it is inappropriate to criticize posts (and also inappropriate to use an answer to comment). The user had too little rep to actually comment.

My question: Is it reasonable for me to edit the post by just deleting the inappropriate critical comments of another user? I realize that the best case scenario is for the user who made the comment to delete it themselves. The reason I ask is that I hesitate to delete the post (since it contains some good/useful/relevant material), but I feel like it shouldn't be left "as is." In this case, I skipped (since I didn't know what to do) but figured I ask for future reference.

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    $\begingroup$ Why do you think that it is "is inappropriate to criticize posts"? Constructve criticism is essential to teaching, and so is essential here. $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 23, 2015 at 19:23
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    $\begingroup$ @BillDubuque, Constructive criticism is ok provided that it is done in an appropriate way. I could say "Actually, xxx is a counter-example to yyy" which seems fine. Or, I could say " The #!@ #!@ answerer is wrong because he #!@ didn't consider the yyy counter-example the the #!@ question." In this case, I think it is clearly not an appropriate way to answer. The case I encountered wasn't so obvious because of the lack of expletives, but it certainly contained unnecessary off-putting verbage. $\endgroup$
    – TravisJ
    Apr 23, 2015 at 19:52

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If you see something in the Low Quality queue that can be salvaged by editing, then by all means edit it. Please.

(I do mean salvaged; if the post will not become a legitimate answer even after an edit, then don't bother. Minor edits to doomed posts are more harmful than useful.)

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    $\begingroup$ This is one of those meta-down-votes where it then is anyones guess what it is that the voter meant: Better delete away. Edit "doomed posts" too. There are no doomed posts. Too much editing is generally bad. Who knows? $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 23, 2015 at 15:28

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