Part of me thinks it's because that's an easier argument to make than actually addressing any of the substance.

Easier to just assume I won't respond and then they'll look more "right."

Perhaps it's due to conditioning on stack overflow, where posting links on their own always swiftly invokes rebukes from the moderators (because linkrot).

But these are permalinks? This is like linking to a github. It doesn't just "disappear." Unless Reddit goes under, which is just as likely as StackOverflow or HN going under.

At this point, with their market cap and increased moderation, probably less likely than the two I listed.