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There are quite a few comments by presumably more right wing people marked as dead here. Excluding these people from debate this way makes hacker news less use

There are quite a few comments by presumably more right wing people marked as dead here. Excluding these people from debate this way makes hacker news less useful IMO. Why not make constructive criticism instead of downvoting, I realise it's easier...

maxerickson 10y ago
It's flags that kill comments, not downvotes. None of the flagged comments (at the moment) are constructive. There's one other dead comment that hit another filter, it hasn't been flagged.
- freehunter 10y ago
  How do you flag comments? I can flag posts, but with over 11k karma I don't see an option to flag comments, only downvote. Or can only the admins flag a comment?
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    The threshold for flagging is lower than for downvotes. The flag button only appears on the individual comment page, accessed by clicking the timestamp (the same page shows a "vouch" button, to support a comment you think is unfairly dead). I guess it is turned off for some people if their flags don't seem to be useful or whatever. (I am not a mod or admin, just a user)
  - tim333 10y ago
    Click the bit that says "1 hour ago" or similar. Then you should see "flag" above the comment.
forgetsusername 10y ago
HackerNews loves to pat itself on the back about what a great community it is, but when it comes to politics (and other specific topics) the bullying and one-sidedness is as bad as anywhere on the internet. But this is exactly why half of America is in utter shock about what's happening: their discussion circles involve one "side", and the other isn't acceptable.
- freehunter 10y ago
  90% of what Trump and his supporters are saying truly is not acceptable, you're right. Banning people based on their religion, canceling visas that have already been granted, firing reasonable dissenters rather than working with them, discriminating against LGBTQ folks, destroying access to women's health care, those are all completely unacceptable ideas. It doesn't matter that some people believe in them, some people believe that black people should drink from different water fountains than white people. We shouldn't entertain those ideas even for a second, we shouldn't legitimize them. Conservatives are completely accepted around here. What isn't accepted is authoritarianism, bigotry, sexism/racism, and hate. Being a conservative does not mean you have to be a bigot, and being a bigot does not make you a conservative. There are plenty of conservatives who would agree with that. If you believe that you should have more rights than someone else purely because of the color of your skin or the god you worship, you've gone well beyond the label of "conservative", you are an authoritarian and no one should be forced to listen to you.
  - MrZongle2 10y ago
    "Banning people based on their religion, ..." The ban is based upon country. Muslims in general aren't being banned, otherwise travelers from countries such as Indonesia would be affected. They aren't. "...canceling visas that have already been granted, ..." If the visa has been granted to somebody from a country to which the immigration halt is applied, or otherwise is now subject to additional background checks that were not applied when the visa was granted, then the United States Government certainly has the right to revoke or otherwise suspend the visa. This may be rude and it may be inconvenient, but it's hardly a violation of human rights. It certainly isn't unconstitutional. "...firing reasonable dissenters rather than working with them, ..." That oft-quoted "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist" comes to mind here. What constitutes "reasonable"? If your boss tells you to do something, you do it. Or you resign. Or you get fired. What if your boss told you to do something illegal? At the time, your options are identical: do what you were told, resign, or get fired. In due time, if you chose one of the latter options and your boss truly was breaking the law, you will be revealed to have taken the superior moral position. We have yet to see if that is the case anywhere. If it turns out that way, it will harm Trump. I suspect, however, that if the appropriate courts rule in Trump's favor we will either not hear of it at all or it will be dismissed as judicial activism. "... discriminating against LGBTQ folks, ..." The White House affirmed today (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/obama-trump-protections-lgbt-workers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/obama-trump-p...) that LGBTQ protections enacted under the Obama Administration will stay in place. "...destroying access to women's health care, ..." Citation needed.
rfrank 10y ago
Welcome to HN, conservative opinions aren't terribly welcome.
- pinaceae 10y ago
  more safe spaces for conservatives are needed.
  - rfrank 10y ago
    Hot take.
andy_ppp 10y ago
It's really great to see some interesting discussions of the points here rather than needless downvoting! I learned some things too and nobody got hurt. I hasten to add that I think this order is designed as perfectly as possible to piss of liberals and entrench Trump supporters. I mean the left is very good at pretending Obama wasn't an evil disaster for say Pakistanis or you know the rule of law. Just my opinion we need to get rid of executive orders and allow people to vote more directly. Politians should be lowered to civil servants rather than gravey train shoe ins. Wait and see if Trump does force through a two term limit for congress!!!

maxerickson 10y ago

It's flags that kill comments, not downvotes. None of the flagged comments (at the moment) are constructive. There's one other dead comment that hit another filter, it hasn't been flagged.

freehunter 10y ago
How do you flag comments? I can flag posts, but with over 11k karma I don't see an option to flag comments, only downvote. Or can only the admins flag a comment?
- maxerickson 10y ago
  The threshold for flagging is lower than for downvotes. The flag button only appears on the individual comment page, accessed by clicking the timestamp (the same page shows a "vouch" button, to support a comment you think is unfairly dead). I guess it is turned off for some people if their flags don't seem to be useful or whatever. (I am not a mod or admin, just a user)
- tim333 10y ago
  Click the bit that says "1 hour ago" or similar. Then you should see "flag" above the comment.

forgetsusername 10y ago

HackerNews loves to pat itself on the back about what a great community it is, but when it comes to politics (and other specific topics) the bullying and one-sidedness is as bad as anywhere on the internet. But this is exactly why half of America is in utter shock about what's happening: their discussion circles involve one "side", and the other isn't acceptable.

freehunter 10y ago
90% of what Trump and his supporters are saying truly is not acceptable, you're right. Banning people based on their religion, canceling visas that have already been granted, firing reasonable dissenters rather than working with them, discriminating against LGBTQ folks, destroying access to women's health care, those are all completely unacceptable ideas. It doesn't matter that some people believe in them, some people believe that black people should drink from different water fountains than white people. We shouldn't entertain those ideas even for a second, we shouldn't legitimize them. Conservatives are completely accepted around here. What isn't accepted is authoritarianism, bigotry, sexism/racism, and hate. Being a conservative does not mean you have to be a bigot, and being a bigot does not make you a conservative. There are plenty of conservatives who would agree with that. If you believe that you should have more rights than someone else purely because of the color of your skin or the god you worship, you've gone well beyond the label of "conservative", you are an authoritarian and no one should be forced to listen to you.
- MrZongle2 10y ago
  "Banning people based on their religion, ..." The ban is based upon country. Muslims in general aren't being banned, otherwise travelers from countries such as Indonesia would be affected. They aren't. "...canceling visas that have already been granted, ..." If the visa has been granted to somebody from a country to which the immigration halt is applied, or otherwise is now subject to additional background checks that were not applied when the visa was granted, then the United States Government certainly has the right to revoke or otherwise suspend the visa. This may be rude and it may be inconvenient, but it's hardly a violation of human rights. It certainly isn't unconstitutional. "...firing reasonable dissenters rather than working with them, ..." That oft-quoted "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist" comes to mind here. What constitutes "reasonable"? If your boss tells you to do something, you do it. Or you resign. Or you get fired. What if your boss told you to do something illegal? At the time, your options are identical: do what you were told, resign, or get fired. In due time, if you chose one of the latter options and your boss truly was breaking the law, you will be revealed to have taken the superior moral position. We have yet to see if that is the case anywhere. If it turns out that way, it will harm Trump. I suspect, however, that if the appropriate courts rule in Trump's favor we will either not hear of it at all or it will be dismissed as judicial activism. "... discriminating against LGBTQ folks, ..." The White House affirmed today (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/obama-trump-protections-lgbt-workers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/obama-trump-p...) that LGBTQ protections enacted under the Obama Administration will stay in place. "...destroying access to women's health care, ..." Citation needed.

rfrank 10y ago

Welcome to HN, conservative opinions aren't terribly welcome.

pinaceae 10y ago
more safe spaces for conservatives are needed.
- rfrank 10y ago
  Hot take.

andy_ppp 10y ago

It's really great to see some interesting discussions of the points here rather than needless downvoting! I learned some things too and nobody got hurt. I hasten to add that I think this order is designed as perfectly as possible to piss of liberals and entrench Trump supporters. I mean the left is very good at pretending Obama wasn't an evil disaster for say Pakistanis or you know the rule of law. Just my opinion we need to get rid of executive orders and allow people to vote more directly. Politians should be lowered to civil servants rather than gravey train shoe ins. Wait and see if Trump does force through a two term limit for congress!!!