4 ms·

I based my post off of this part of the parent comment: " And yet, as I write this, every single comment in this damn thread mentions him." And not only was th

I based my post off of this part of the parent comment: " And yet, as I write this, every single comment in this damn thread mentions him." And not only was that poster right, at the time it was written, it is a frigging epidemic everywhere right now. On HN, on Reddit, on every platform; if the topic at hand is not tightly focused and apolitical, somebody eventually will make a derogative Trump comment. Some of it is purely for humor. Some of it is pure snark. Some of it is virtue signalling. But almost all of it is noise, not signal.

Karunamon 10y ago
What this thread has taught me is that fighting this trend, even on HN, is not worth the time. The haters are going to hate, and there's no point suggesting that maybe it's not a good place for it, lest you want your comments greyed. Trump uses Twitter, therefore any topic about Twitter is about Trump by proxy, or something.
anigbrowl 10y ago
Have you considered that this is a reflection of the way Donald Trump communicates? He injects his opinions on subjects he patently knows nothing about into public discourse on a regular basis, relying on startlement more than substance - like a shock jock on the radio. The social, political and governmental power he now wields is immense. I have to keep an eye on his tiny tweets of terror because random shit he posts there has the potential to directly impact my life in the short term. This is precisely why lots of people were saying he should give up tweeting (at least on his personal account) once he took office, and rely on formal/official channels of communication for anything important. He has demonstrated a a preference for demonizing individuals and particular businesses and institutions, and where he leads, a mob of deplorables often follows. You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it. It seems not to have occurred to you that people who dislike Trump are even more sick of hearing about and from him. Imagine being a Mexican person and hearing yourself and your family described as 'rapists, drug dealers and criminals' on an almost daily basis for the last 18 months every time you watch the news.
- MrZongle2 10y ago
  "You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it." When noise drowns out signal, no amount of ignoring will help. People being passive-aggressive about politics in a non-political venue are neither changing the political system nor contributing to the venue in which they comment.

Karunamon 10y ago

What this thread has taught me is that fighting this trend, even on HN, is not worth the time. The haters are going to hate, and there's no point suggesting that maybe it's not a good place for it, lest you want your comments greyed. Trump uses Twitter, therefore any topic about Twitter is about Trump by proxy, or something.

anigbrowl 10y ago

Have you considered that this is a reflection of the way Donald Trump communicates? He injects his opinions on subjects he patently knows nothing about into public discourse on a regular basis, relying on startlement more than substance - like a shock jock on the radio. The social, political and governmental power he now wields is immense. I have to keep an eye on his tiny tweets of terror because random shit he posts there has the potential to directly impact my life in the short term. This is precisely why lots of people were saying he should give up tweeting (at least on his personal account) once he took office, and rely on formal/official channels of communication for anything important. He has demonstrated a a preference for demonizing individuals and particular businesses and institutions, and where he leads, a mob of deplorables often follows. You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it. It seems not to have occurred to you that people who dislike Trump are even more sick of hearing about and from him. Imagine being a Mexican person and hearing yourself and your family described as 'rapists, drug dealers and criminals' on an almost daily basis for the last 18 months every time you watch the news.

MrZongle2 10y ago
"You complain about being tired of hearing/seeing people talking about Donald Trump all the time, so presumably you feel unable to ignore it." When noise drowns out signal, no amount of ignoring will help. People being passive-aggressive about politics in a non-political venue are neither changing the political system nor contributing to the venue in which they comment.