[Verginius Rufus]

I don't see any passives in the sentence that starts "It's so crucial..." The verb to be does not take the objective (accusative) case but if there had been a noun it would be in the predicate nominative.

But the quoted question from Krakauer which starts "Why wasn't there signs..." should be "Why weren't there signs..."

[one guy in new jersey]

Yes, I suppose you are right.

“That to which I am objecting” is actually the lack of specificity as “to whom” the unspecific “it” is crucial.

To my mind it is “old hat” to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, and some semblance of a memory of mid-term and near-term history.