Does anyone else find it entertaining that, after my question was restated, nobody has tried to answer it again, preferring to digress into whether prior digressions were thread creep?
But then, I take a lot of things as part of life's floor show.
My suggestion, and I think I get to make one, is that if you feel that you rather than your arguments are being attacked that you point out the ad hominem fallacy and go back to the argument.
Alternatively, if you don't like someone's argument, say why rather than saying so, and say nothing about the arguER.
Feel free to creep wherever as long as you aren't being a creep about it, quoi!