Humorlessness
One common trait among woos, whatever the subject, is they can accept the idea of contradiction (not the actual thing, of course), but only if it is presented with a lot of sugarcoating. Sarcasm, to them, is an indication of being bad, and being bad is being wrong. OTOH, contradiction while being nice amounts to being mistaken at worse, but more importantly being open-minded, thus susceptible to conversion to their point of view.
(ETA: someone correct my English grammar, I got the feeling something's not right. Sarcasm is OK)
You have to remember that "True Believers" of all stripes, particularly conspiracy theorists and extremists, have an exaggerated sense of self-importance and an utter lack of a sense of humor. They believe they are bringing the truth to the world, and that everyone in the world should agree with them and fall behind in ranks in their army of the just cause.
But in reality, they are greeted with contempt, anger, derision, and ridicule. The first two they attribute to the sinister workings of their hidden opponents. But they accept the idea of being fought, which they relish. The latter two infuriates them. True Believers should not, in their own opinion, be objects of ridicule and derision. True Believers should be objects of respect and fear. Being laughed at or mocked is the worst fate for them.
Study how folks in the mainstream put up with the jibes of Jay Leno, David Letterman, and other comedians. The White House puts their best jokes on their daily press summary. Most politicians and celebrities will simply make jokes back. Sometimes they play along, like Gerald Ford. Or they simply shrug it off, like Dick Cheney. Others try to dig their way out of the hole, like Dan Quayle and his numerous gaffes.
(During the Murphy Brown incident, he reacted to the flogging by congratulating Murphy Brown on giving birth, and even sending flowers and a teddy bear to the set, and watching the critical episode with a single mother in Washington, DC. It didn't undo the damage, but his response kept it from being worse. If he had hurled further vitriol at Murphy, or got all defensive, he would have looked even more foolish)
So when I see conspiracy theorists exploding in fury over such jibes, and whining about why nobody wants to debate their great theories, I know I've tripped over an extremist.
