Personally, i don't like it. However, that's because i would not want that to be the option for me. I like to see it in the raw (as long as it isn't abusive. But, that's just me. (Expressed to get my bias out of the way.)

As for this being a default on something that is easily changeable, would match other sites. I believe Microsoft uses this approach in their forums, with the justification that most people who come to the site just want the answer. That makes a lot for sense here as well.

I don't know what you mean by this mysterious "vote" you refer to. :) Was it something in PMD? If not, PMD has been quite active of late. This ought to make a good discussion, especially for something you already wrote. That means no "yeah, but who's gonna write it" complaints.