Nobody's kicks a dead dog? Hahah I never heard that but that's awesome! Hahah
One reason I think we dont do much criticism here is that most of us are minnows and a single whale could destroy us with a click of a button. I actually like it though, I am not a big fan of confrontation. I think we can make friends first and criticize later.
Well, if we want our friendship to be true, we should put the truth up first instead of waiting for the right moment to tell the truth.
And about fear of downvotes, I too felt that sometimes, but I put it away knowing that the author was true to the intent and he will accept the feedback with an open heart.