alias_sqbr

Hmm. Yes and no. I think there are two issues here which exacerbate each other
1)People tend to demonise their opponents/oversimplify their arguments
2)When attacked, people clutch onto any holes/unfairness etc in their attackers argument as an excuse to completely ignore the criticism

And of course on top of that is the tendency for everyone to misunderstand and pigeonhole each other, so that even polite and reasonable criticism is percieved as irrational attack, and reasonable criticism of someone's unreasonable criticism is percieved as irrational attack etc.