What you are experiencing here, Mad Polly, is the same thing that happens to any person who sticks their head innocently up above the parapet and says something on a public forum on the Internet.

You didn't realize that you were in the trenches and that a war was about to start all around you. You begin to realize it, though, when a whole bunch of people in those other trenches just across the way start firing their guns at you! It's surprising and frustrating to discover that your innocent attempt to simply express some thought you had has triggered a thread war which you never intended to declare.

You get mad. You fire back. Various people take your side and also start firing back at those who fired at you. Other people join those who fired at you and the battle increases in fury and dimension.

You pull out the BIG GUNS. You tell them all to "FUCK OFF". Nice explosion. ;-) But to what effect? The war goes on, regardless.

At this point I am thinking it might be a good idea to put down the rifle, burn the uniform, and start walking home, because the thread you had in mind has ceased to exist, it's been replaced by a mental war between a whole bunch of people, and there's not a darned thing you can do about it except walk away and find something else to spend your time on. NOTHING you can say will get everyone on this thread to understand your original point, because they are too busy making THEIR point. Their point is the only one they really care about. ;-) They don't care about your point, and they never will. There's absolutely nothing you can do about that.

Except maybe laugh. ;-D And then go find something that makes you smile.

I think that's what I'll do right about now.