Oh, look -- a short reply from me for once.

'Debating 101' pretty much comes down to attacking the idea, not the person. In essence, someone who actually knows how to debate can do so without getting personal or snarky, and without being disrespectful. To me, something becomes a 'flame war' instead of a 'disagreement' when this line is crossed and the person stops debating maturely. It's easy to have a disagreement with someone and still be an adult about it, but a lot of people forget that.