I know I'm from a different board, and moderate it as well, but I wanted to chime in because I agree with you and much of the sentiment. Moderators use the delete button and are given options from which to choose those deletions. SPAM is rampant on other sites with typical agendas that are attached to them. The Hangout has been relatively "clean" in comparison and moderators should have the option of removing posts that are off topic or have clear intent to manipulate, distort or cloud due diligence or facts. If you don't have a dog in the fight or skin in the game, negative sentiment intended to spam doesn't really need to stay on the board.