when does criticisim become "bashing"?

[drray23]

6. the country is divided

For the past couple decades the emergence of the right wing media and commentators (beck, limbaugh,coulter,etc...) have shifted the political discourse from policies to hatred of the other group.
The tea party is a prime example. They are not for anything, rather just against everything with a complete lack of being able to compromise.
This approach has affected how people behave even on internet boards. What is surprising is that even among like minded people (the du board for example but i have seen it on others ) this take no prisoner approach is prevalent. It is as if these people stare at their screens waiting for a post to be outraged about or a word to take out of context.
The anonymity issue is a problem either way. I was a poster on huffpost for years and left when they decided to link it with facebook to improve the civility. I left because here are enough people so irate about posts that I would not want to have them get into my life.
So now I come to du and I see threads where people attack each other relentlessly. Quite disappointing.