For those who have worked for companies with shady and bad management, after a while you begin feeling bad about yourself being an employee.
Same with politics, if you were involved in this business, it would be tough not becoming tainted by the cut and thrust of defending and attacking and dirty deals.
Now I'm not saying Surfs journal is any of these, but the fact is there is a fair amount of controversy generated here.
There are choices you can make. That is leave alone, walk away, dont get involved.
There is the choice to agree with Surf such as truetype.
There is the choice to become involved and create counter discussion. As this is Surf's journal this last choice can be akin to pissing in the wind as Surf is resilient against TA, hence perhaps the reason one may feel dirty.
Surf as author, sets the standard of the journal.