An editorial written by the Tribune Editorial Board about the Amy Koch affair and posted last week on the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s website has sparked much debate.

More than 100 comments were posted by users at startribune.com in the comment section below the editorial.

The editorial was printed on the Opinions page in the Albert Lea Tribune on Dec. 22 under the headline “Koch affair is disconcerting.” Acquired through a wire service, the editorial was posted at the Star Tribune’s online opinion page later the same day, with the headline “Albert Lea Tribune: Koch ‘a disgrace to Minnesota.’”

The central point of the editorial stated: “If a politician is going to stand before us and tout the sanctity of marriage, then they ought to live by their own words and abide by their own marriage vows. What a disgrace she is to Minnesota. This news has crossed the country and done more to harm the institution of marriage than strengthen it.”

The Star Tribune allows anonymous comments. It filters the posts to allow debate and prevent comments deemed objectionable. Users can report inappropriate comments.

The comments on the website give a sample of the debate coming Minnesota’s way in 2012 in the weeks leading up to a referendum on same-sex marriage.

Here are some of the comments found on the website:

• “Right on!”

• “Wow, with cut and paste drivel like this, you won’t be leaving Albert Lea for a big city paper anytime soon.”

• “Disgrace? That is a very harsh word. Do not condemn unless you wish to be condemned. Let he who is without sin throw the first stone.”

• Referring to the above comment: “That’s exactly the point! Koch has been lobbing boulders at the GLBT community for years. At least the critics of Koch are condemning her for actions she has admitted to, and all can agree are disgraceful.”

• “Her affair is just more hypocrisy amongst the Minnesota right. Do as I say, not as I do. I don’t care if she had an affair — that is her business. But what I do care about is her telling me and others what is morally correct, and then trying to pass a law to substantiate her point of view, when apparantly she really doesn’t have many morals herself.”

• “Wow, a newspaper with real guts. Amy Koch joins Kim Kardashian as the new poster girls for family values.”

• “If Amy Koch were in Washington DC in a Congressional office, no one would look or think twice about her indiscretion. I am so sick of hearing about her.. she’s leaving… quit digging it up and rehashing it.”

• “We will look back at this debate, whether gay people should be able to marry, 40 years from now in shame. It was only 44 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court overruled existing law that banned interracial marriage. Ask youself, which side of history do you want to be on?”

• “I personally don’t care about the affairs and sins of others, unless they are telling other people how to live a ‘moral’ life. I fully support the rights of adults to marry who they want, and find it hilarious that the only argument against it is based on ‘morality’ and ‘the sanctity of marriage,’ brought to us by hypocrites like Rep. Koch, Newt Gingrich, etc. I will agree, though, that ‘disgrace to Minnesota’ is a little melodramatic.”

• “I am so far left that I have to look right to see left. Sen. Koch is only human. We all make mistakes in life, why should she be any different? She should only have to answer to her family and God.”

• “So what? There will always be people who disrespect the institution of marriage.”

• “Remember, Bill Clinton did not even resign his post and he was caught red-handed lying, after the fact. Yet somehow Republicans are held to a much higher standard and assaulted at any mention of improper actions. Why are only Republicans being attacked? Many Democrats are more opposed to gay marriage than the majority of Republicans that lean toward Libertarian thinking, that the government should stay out of peoples lives as much as posible.”

• “All you liberals throwing out the word ‘hypocrisy’ make me laugh and cringe at the same time. It is not hypocritical to agree with ideals and standards and yet fail to live up to them. I fully believe that lusting after a woman is wrong, yet I also admit that I sometimes fail. I fully believe and teach that it is wrong to lie, yet there are occasions when I have lied, usually trying to protect myself or someone else from embarrassment. Failing to reach ‘perfection’ does not preclude a person from speaking and teaching about what is right and wrong.”

• “Yaaay for the Albert Lea Tribune. They showed some moxie and some guts for a small town paper.”

• “I personally don’t care who Amy bops nor whether she does it inside or outside of a marriage. I do care, however, when she claims some fictitious moral high ground and then uses it to deny others their basic rights. And then falls flat on her face only months later, assuming the affair wasn’t going on when she introduced the amendment. Her indiscretion just came to light with the Republican leadership in September. It’s not like the affair started Tuesday and they got informed of it on Wednesday — this relationship was going on for some time before it hit the light of day. I’m curious as to just how long this little tryst was going on before it hit the light of day.”

• “I’ve always thought it is just horrible when a vindictive majority thinks they have the right to put a minority’s civil rights up for a public vote. It’s incredibly sad in my book, and it’s what? 2012? Sanctity of marriage my foot.”

• “Koch’s immorality was not the reason she was fired. She was fired due to crossing a workplace boundary line. The boundary is crossed when a teacher has a sexual relationship with a student. The boundary is crossed when the boss (Koch) is in a sexual relationship with someone under her supervision, who she likely elevated, promoted and praised … while others under her command were disregarded. Productivity and morale are harmed when there is sex in the forbidden zone. In September, she and her affair-partner were confronted. She chose to stay in the forbidden zone. So she was outed and ousted.”

• “Yeah, ‘disgrace’ should be reserved for creatures more useful than politicians. Like washed-up catchers who used to play baseball.”

• “It’s pretty obvious that Senator Koch wants all affairs to between a man and a woman also. Should we have a constitutional amendment on it?”

• “My prayers go out to the wife and three children of Michael Brodkorb and the husband and child of Amy Koch. This is going to be a difficult Xmas.”