such comments were "upvoted furiously" because people agreed with it despite its caustic wording
I'm well aware that people upvoted it because they agreed with the sentiment. I was trying to say that this is not a good thing, and that the name-calling (not just "caustic wording" mind you, name-calling is a different beast) should have stopped any upvoting in spite of any agreement. I'm sure many on HN would disagree, since people mostly voted those comments up.