I'm not listening

It's interesting to look at the way people react in on-line arguments. I saw one recently where person1 made some sweeping generalisations and backed them up with a few facts and a number of opinions. Several other persons responded, refuting much of what person1 said. Person1 replied, trying to tell them how they were blinded - telling them what their mind-set was and why it was biased - again making gross generalisations. The argument continued. Person1 then posts, lamenting the fact that people always take specific words from what he/she writes and use them to refute his/her arguments.
I've seen person1 get involved in a couple of on-line arguments. Each time it is usually a one vs. many, and each time person1 ends up getting upset. The rules for person1's argument style seem to be:
Rule1: assume you are right about every part of your post
Rule2: assume that a contradiction of any part of your post is an attack on the whole
Rule3: assume that readers knew what you really meant
Rule4: assume they only picked on specific words in your post because they couldn't refute what you really meant
Rule5: assume you understand their background and their lack of real experience
Rule6: never change - when you are right all along there is no need.
I find it saddening to see someone with obvious skills and experience locked into such an interaction style.

The company I work for just released a new inspirational motivational tagline to reassert the company identity and unify our thinking. *shudder* It probably seemed like a good idea at the top.
Hmmm... we have a couple of million in the corporate cookie jar. We could spend it on new facilities - to ease the overcrowded work areas and bring the facilities up to current health and safety standards. We could spend it on staff development and training - to better equip our people to understand and manage a high-tech business. No, we'll spend it on corporate image consultants and sending glossy booklets to every employee to tell them the importance of who we are. We'll cut down trees to disseminate information that could have been more effectively delivered through our company's intranet. How will our employees know how much we value this new corporate identity initiative if we don't waste buckets of our profit on it?
*sighs*
Oh yes, we must emphasise that there is only one logo allowed and only one tagline that may be used. There is only one narrow path to company salvation, the One True Way. The logo symbol and the company name must never be separated. "One Company! One Identity! One Logo!" shouts the brochure with a religious fervour only matched by a fundamentalist suicide squad. "Be proud of our brand. Live it, enjoy it, protect it." intones the last page as it continues to prod us with its mnemonic trident.
I feel so inspired it hurts.