It quite literally was (ie it's literally dictionary definition character assassination), and if you don't understand that, i'm not sure what to tell you

"However, it's a very convenient cop-out for you to duck out of the discussion. "

So, just to get this straight, your way of having a "discussion" is:

1. slag on someone's character and background for no reason.

2. drag irrelevant stuff into the mix.

3. Cast aspersions on their motivations for refusing to participate as a result.

Yes, if that's how you have "discussions", please, feel free to keep me the hell out of them.

I've participated in plenty contentious discussions on HN with actually civil people.