Ask HN: Are the HN forums losing their civility?

Reading someone call PG an "ass" spurred to me to ask the question, though it's far from the only example.

I switched from Slashdot to HN a few years ago to hear more insightful, interesting debate on tech news topics, as opposed to flamewars.

Is something happening to the quality of this community lately? And if so, is there anything we can or should do about it?

(I'm a long time listener, first time poster)