I feel that when it comes to humour that touches upon something dear to you, you can accept all kinds of nonsense and silliness from people who you know really love that topic. It's okay to crack a partially accurate Tolkien joke on the Downs, because everyone understands that this is a themed joke, and that it does not reflect the poster's love and knowledge of Tolkien. However, people tend to get touchy when unfamiliar people joke about topics dear to them, because it often comes across like the jester isn't serious about the topic, or doesn't really know what they are talking about. It's not just about Tolkien, it's everything from culture and history to small habits. I guess sometimes those more learned in Tolkien lore might be predisposed to be suspicious of any article making superficial use of his work; it might now be fair to the writer, who could just as easily be as well-versed in Tolkien as anyone, but was just making a shallow analysis in a more jest-like fashion. However, he's not all blameless either for the misunderstanding, because you have to know what your audience is. If you want your joke to be received well but also not make you sound like an idiot, you should choose the context of the joke with care - since that article is supposed to "score some points".
I wasn't particularly impressed with this specific article. I just didn't get the joke. It sounded like stupid gibberish with a bunch of Tolkien references thrown in. It just didn't make any sense. However, I feel like the problem here is more in my happy ignorance of politics than in the author's sense of humour. I'm lucky to have a neighbour who keeps track of the big current events - without him I might have continued thinking that we still have the same Prime Minister in Canada. Asking me to follow American politics is just asking too much.
