Civil Comments is arbitrary and capricious, and seems to have no real core principles that someone can follow.
Numerous commenters -- politically left and right -- have noted that some commenters use the rating process to call "uncivil" anything they disagree with. This skews the rating algorithm.
Plus, I have had to rate the same comment several times. I get told I'm black-listed, yet nothing seems to happen.
The Civil Comments system has serious flaws and bugs.