You can be Dr. House MD only when you have the rep and skills of Dr. House MD. I think Linus definitely cleared that threshold.
Boy i wish that principle held up in real medicine and other parts of life; "rep and skills" may in some ways equal power, but that false equivalency is how problematic behavior is excused in unfit individuals.
Linus got counseling to get better at communication. Even he recognized that was bad. Don't use him as an example to accept bad people.