I've replied to them now with the same appeal. But someone else's breach of the guidelines doesn't excuse your own. Rather than escalating when you see a bad comment, you'd be better to flag the comment, or email us (hn@ycombinator.com) so we can see it and take action sooner.

OK, that's fair. I don't deny I broke the rules there. I was just surprised at the unevenness because I assumed you had seen the context.