>I especially read the faded comments and upvote

This seems to happen a lot more frequently here than anywhere else.

I'm not really sure what that says, other than people still read comments that are faded. Also that people shouldn't worry about self-censoring.

I don't have a problem with downvotes or the karma needed to do it, but

I do sometimes wish it were possible to reply to a dead comment, especially if you vouch for it and it's still dead.

Sometimes they're worth defending, or is relevant in a non-obvious way, and sometimes the comment itself is discussion worthy, as it relates to the topic, even if it's wrong or seems trollish.