Emotional Blackmail

I just got bit (in another forum) by a schtick that enrages me -- a snotty putdown intended to silence me, because something I said would offend someone (often the poster, equally often some other party). It is always delivered with a smug superiority, implying that I am some sort of crude barbarian for not paying sufficient heed to the feelings of someone else. Got news for everybody -- I _AM_ a crude barbarian when it comes to that sort of thing.

What this is, is a not-so-subtle form of emotional blackmail -- it is seen in full flower in 4 & 5 year olds: "Don' thay that - I don' wike it!" or "I won't like you if you do/say that." Over the last 25 or 30 years it has risen up the ranks to adults who should know better. It is not an argument with any sort of intellectual or logical sense behind it -- it is sheer, petulant emotion, and one can almost see the extruded lower lip.

If you want to argue with what I have to say -- cool -- let's go. If you want to try to whine me into submission to Politically Correct nonsense, expect to be insulted.