What was arrogant about the comment? He merely stated that he doesn't find the solution to be aesthetically pleasing. Are opinions contrary to those of the majority now to be considered arrogant?

  While I appreciate a good piece of code and the need to reinvent a wheel

That reeked of sarcasm.

It wasn't supposed to. Reinventing a wheel is a good thing, that's what a majority of people on HN do on daily basis. This is what moves things forward.

"Reeked of sarcasm". Jeez.

Oh, ha! I completely missed the sarcasm in that. Yeah,I can see it as being uncivil.

Arrogance is more about tone than content.