You know what, I would take that whole he needs to be tactful speech alot more seriously if you didn't anwer him back in the condesceding and sarcastic manner in which you did.
Even if someone else answers you back in a manner which you perceive as rude, it doesn't justify you being rude back. You kinda kill your whole polite point with an impolite reply. Two wrongs don't make a right, eh?
Also, you already quoted the rule once and said it didn't address the situation that it actually did, had you read it more thoroughly. You were kinda asking for someone to point that out to you. It may have been an abrupt response, but it not like he called you names or anything.
The internet is not utopia, it is mostly anarchy.