kiva: its not what you say, but what people hear
And what they hear is determined by how you say it. If you write or speak something in an angry and incoherent manner, all anyone is going to hear is "the crazy guy is yelling something", but if you write or speak clearly, then you are going to have a discussion.
We have a perfect example of this happening right now in the US with our current national debate over health care reform. Politicians all over the country are holding "town hall" meetings to discuss health care issues At many of these meeting, some people are being quite disruptive (yelling out of order, shouting incoherent questions, etc.). In almost every case where this happens, the discussion devolves into little more than a shouting match with everyone leaving the room angry and nothing is accomplished.
However, in a few circumstances, critics of the current health care proposals have shown up for these meetings and have actually taken the time to formulate serious questions or have respectfully expressed their criticisms. In every single one of these instances, the meeting became an open, though possibly heated, discussion of the issues. Not everyone leaves these meetings happy, but they all consider the discussion to be productive.
The two different outcomes had absolutely nothing to do with what was heard, but had everything to do with how it was said.