While I understand you made this thread as to not post in the tribute, it really has the same affect. You are taking something that you think is negative, and giving it a forum. Some people post negative things for this very issue. This thread in itself takes away from someone's tribute, and is doing absolutely nothing to help with the grieving process. The only reason for the existance of this thread is so that some people can discuss whether or not someone else is a jerk....which is pretty classless as well. I would think most people could formulate their own opinion by reading what was written, without having a discussion about it.
And yes freedom of speech and tact are 2 seperate issues, and not related. You can have freedom of speech and be tactfull or tactless or vice versa. However, HTC is god here, so really both are irrelevant.