Insulting someone is not a good way to inspire analysis or back up. Its a good way to inspire defensiveness and/or a sense that this community is an insular pack of group think snobs.
I'd say elitists, but that would imply quality.
If your position, actions, or ideas are attack, of course you will be defensive, but you should also be looking at them critically and support them against the attack. Otherwise you're just sniping back, which is a sign of weakness, a sign that you attacker was correct.
And no, attacking
any different ideas is a group think mob. Attacking
poor ideas is, at worst, a harshly truthful community that likes quality discussion. At best a well rounded community that likes quality discussion but has some rude people in it's ranks. Attacking
no ideas, ever, is a weak, feel-good wasteland with no quality discussion.
Some ideas/comments/thoughts/actions are so bad that the best way to describe them is idiotic. This is not always a personal attack, even if it's an attack on those ideas/comments/thoughts/actions.
Just because someone is rude doesn't mean they're wrong nor that there advice or observation is faulty.
And just because they are rude does not make them a douche.
Look at Josh. He's exceedingly rude and harsh in almost every thread I've ever seen him post in. But I can't recall reading a single thing from him that I would qualify as actual douche behavior. Uber, AJ, Sunic, you, and others have, IMO, crossed that line on more than one occasion in recent weeks.