This is a cultural problem.
What is considered impolite in the US or the UK is considered just being straightforward in e.g. Scandinavia.
I am German, we're kind of in the middle between someone from e.g. Finland and someone from e.g. or the UK or US with what we consider "ok" or rather crossing into rude territory.
A common exchange I witnessed in a meeting at work (Nokia):
Finnish developer: And if we follow this suggestion we will all look like idiots.
UK developer: I hear you.
Deciding which one is more impolite or impolite at all is left as an exercise to the reader. ;)
You get my point.
