I not only found this paper offensive, but was more offended that
ACM would publish something like this and give it an award to boot.
I'm planning to send the authors and ACM what's below. Would
appreciate any feedback that you could provide to make it better.
I too would like to (virtually) sign this.
I also point out (not for inclusion in your piece) that the fastest path to fame and what in academia counts as fortune is to write a paper with a superficially plausible argument that some well-known fact or well-established conclusion is wrong. This immediately draws the mantle of Galileo over the author, but instead of the author being imprisoned for life by the Papal Inquisition, the paper becomes the subject of raves, the author becomes a hero, and the discipline may even be said to have taken a new turn as everyone rushes to follow and compete.
But often the little boy in "The Emperor's New Clothes" is either deluded or trying to gain glory by daring to annoy the Emperor.