My final word on "personal attack", (anti)-intellectualism and elitism, then I am out.
1. It isn't about dumbing down. It is about whether one wants to be able to communicate at every level in a manner that is comprehensible to all, or whether one wishes to communicate only on one's own "higher" level, and openly derides anyone they perceive as incapable of engaging in/with that level of discourse.
2. When putting forward one's argument, however intellectual or otherwise, it needs to be robust enough to stand on its own two feet. One can, of course, criticise the way in which an opposing voice postulates their point, but once that becomes the sole point of focus, the relevance of one's substantive argument is lost and the whole dicussion just degenerates into mud-slinging.
3. The person slinging the first clump of mud cannot, in all reasonableness, start whining when mud is slung back at them.
4. Nobody died and made me Queen of the Innernetz. I have the right to say what I like, as does anyone around here, and people have the right to take on board what I say, agree with me, disagree with me, point at me and laugh or put me on ignore. To suggest that people like me (whoever they may be, cos I haven't come across anyone else quite like me on these boards) are causing people to leave Dirty is, seemingly, vesting "us" with a great deal of power. Careful, cos that might just go to my head and I will begin to believe that I am actually a powerful person!
5. One final word. I still maintain that Sherburn's article was lazy, rehashed, sloppy journalism. I am not going to pull it apart sentence by sentence and justify that because I can't be bothered.
Disclaimer: All of the above is personal opinion. It is not intended to establish any kind of rules of behaviour in this forum. I am just a simple poster, not a mod or an admin. If I have an opinion on something I reserve the right to voice it on the same basis as any other poster on these boards. (see para 4 heretofore). If I don't have an opinion, I will STFU and go and do something else.