For all the criticism the GCA.com search function gets, it can turn up some good info.
Nice investigative work, you must be a journalist. 
It's easy to see why Mr. Johnson wouldn't like the question. The answer generally results in many presumptions which may or may not be true. Sure, someone might just be trying to be polite, ala Mr. Snead, but many aren't. I've seen many HHers on here dismissed out of hand. Sometimes we deserve it, and sometimes we don't.
But all of these things are true of most things in life. Almost everyone makes snap judgments based on minimal info, all the time. You just have to hope that people are thoughtful enough to reflect on their presumptions. Sadly, most aren't.
There is almost as much variation of types of each level of golfer as there is variation of opinions within any group of golfers. I personally don't believe most golfers understand how they or anyone else actually play the game, but maybe that's just a flawed presumption on my part...
George, I really don't mind being asked by someone who knows what a handicap is and what it isn't. If I do answer the question in a general way (that is, not on the first tee) I always just give my index. Of course, anyone (member or guest) can walk in our club pro shop and look at the posted sheets of indexes and a separate handicap for each set of four tees and three combinations (7 handicaps in all). No need to ask there, and it rarely happens. Often, however, the question is "what did you shoot." I answer that question by saying "I posted ____," which is not what I shot because I was not playing medal play (rarely do).
I was originally driven to this issue from the liars thread (if one will go back and look at my first post). It occurred to me, again, that the often irrelevant (didn't say always) focus on "what's your handicap" causes more folks lie (or fudge, if you will) about theirs.
Sometimes I get accused of being a sandbagger (playfully I hope) because I can on rare occassion play much better than one might think I could based on my handicap index. On the other hand, I don't want to artificially lower my handicap because that would hurt my teammates in 4-ball matches or other team competitions. It's tough to get it just right - we all know that. Also, we all know the limitations of the handicap system, and what it's primary official purpose is, and that is to give weaker players a somewhat more fighting chance in "handicap" matches against stronger players. That's all it is.
By the way, I think it's fine for others to evaluate the merits of what someone is saying about architecture or playing strategy, etc., based on their handicaps, if that what makes them happy. I don't do that - I try to focus on the substance of what's being said, and how it's being said, and to decide if it makes sense or not. But, whatever.
I've got to go to club now, not to practice but just hit some balls and then visit with the guys I couldn't play with today because I had a funeral to attend this morning - the funeral of an avid golfer who probably would have suggested I play rather than attend his funeral, but sadly I could not ask him. I'll think about this issue some more and will try to refine my postion later.