Intolerant nationalists calling a journalist "imbecile"

Matt Moffett from the Wall Street Journal has published a pretty balanced report on the drive for independence in Catalonia. In this piece, he describes the support for independence of some Catalan economists, and the disagreement with them of some other very prestigious economists (and another one, familiar to the readers of this blog). A twit reflects a reaction that is typical of some intolerant nationalist quarters when you don't dance to their tune: "you must be an imbecile when you pronounce yourself about a country whose history you don't know. Matt Moffett is the proof." Of course, this piece in the Wall Street Journal reflects once again the failure of the Catalan secessionists to obtain any relevant international support for their cause. As the article says, the support of some intellectuals for this cause reflects more that they are nationalist rather than they are intellectuals (economists in this case). I do not agree with all the piece says. I would have wished that he talks more about the federalist alternative, as the Financial Times did, but overall, as I said, I think it is quite balanced. So the fact that it ignites such intolerant reactions in the social networks can give you an idea of what happens when someone openly and totally disagrees with them.