Ah, so that's why I can't comment here. I kept thinking whatever did I do to deserve not being able to comment now!? The whole concept of muting seems a bit flawed, in that a muted user can't comment on the post posted by you. A muted user should only not be able to reply to you in a comment, but not being able to post a comment seems a bit too much power given to the submitter of the post. If anything, restricting someone from commenting on a post should be a collective decision. Like by setting a threshold number of mutes he has received from other users. I've no strong opinion on time based muting but I think it's more arbitrary than vote based muting.
This is why I can no longer be active in the Hubski Book Club, as well. Theoretically, I can see the benefit of muting, and don't even object to my being muted. Practically speaking though, there's massive potential for mis-application.