ake: I always decry the use of insults and ad hominem remarks. I have posted many times about this. I disagree very strongly with you about several issues, but calling you a 'malicious dunderhead'... or any of the recent terms employed by various of your countrymen ... is not likely to win any arguments.
I tend to see personal invective as saying more about the accuser than his target, so even when I agree with their basic data, political stance, cultural viewpoint and level of frustration, I have to distance myself from the name calling and implied suggestions that someone 'knows' about your motives and basic personality. (I do have, and have expressed, opinions about your underlying premises when discussing HIV/AIDS - but that is on a different level from characterizing **you** as a person. I have no idea what my attitude would be if we sat down & talked for 2 hours.)
I have known 'maybe' 2-3 people in 50 years to whom I would apply really strong language... really hateful, obnoxious, deceitful individuals. I have a much longer list of those I wish I could just talk some sense into!