Emotions are what they are. They are not negotiable, you can't make them go away, they are simply things that are there. If I hit you in the face, you would feel a bunch of different emotions. Who am I to tell you that these are not real things you are feeling?
Yes, I agree that stating an emotion isn't an argument, because it is a subjective truth.
> If I hit you in the face, you would feel a bunch of different emotions.
Yes... but even here, context matters.
I do martial arts, and when I get hit in the face while sparring, it's useful feedback and something I can learn from. If my training partners weren't willing to hit me occasionally, they'd be doing me a disservice.
I agree that context matters, but Linus isn't a sparring partner. Maybe a better analogy would be your martial arts teacher suddenly hitting you for wasting his time because you were lazy the last time you put back your equipment. If another student kicked you for complaining about this treatment, it would be normal to feel upset.
It's normal to have expectations about human behavior, and it's normal to get upset when they aren't met. It's actually healthy to expect our superiors to treat us with civility when we screw up. We expect that from the cops, for example. If your underlings are continually screwing up, this generally indicates a problem with your process. It's similarly healthy to expect colleagues, friends, and partners to support us when an authority has misused their power.
Yes, I agree that stating an emotion isn't an argument, because it is a subjective truth.