I've seen this type of behavior by controllers or those who feel the need to control when someone speaks out, it's so common on the net. They start getting personal immediately in a very subtle way. Any aggressive move on the person defending their content and name will be made to look silly, crazy, or as people say here on this site...whiny.

The only way to avoid derailing this very important issue is don't get personal and stay on topic. I became really good at keeping on topic and using the force of attacks to promote what I felt was important.