“That noncomment of yours did zing past me, because it was apparently intended as a taunt.”
No, just a statement of fact: It is not a surprise.
“Present us with something substantive, and we can discuss it.”
I already did present something of substance, but that was directed at someone else. I don’t care if we discuss anything or not.
“It is not a surprise, because....”
Furnish that, i.e. information that can be verified or refuted, or else you implicitly confess to making a supercilious taunt.