4 ms·

One is a foreign power attempting to destabilize the US government, and the other is an admin changing a comment as a joke?

rainieri 9y ago
Sorry destabilize the US government? Destabilize over the 2 options they ALWAYS have? Oh sorry you have a Republican government now. What a destabilization. So in conclusion the only dangerous thing in that election is the fact that Trump could be blackmailed. And Hillary can't be blackmailed? Hilarious. -- thanks for the downvotes.
- themensch 9y ago
  What is hilarious is that anyone could think any of those clowns are above reproach.
- hankhill 9y ago
  Next up: Russian trolls hit HN, too
- SiempreViernes 9y ago
  There are actually more than two options you know, at one point there were 17 nominees on the republican side. Out of all those 17, the biggest idiot won, and now you want to take away the best excuse for this fracas that the elites have come up with? I think the fact that the orange one is an idiot is pretty dangerous in and of itself, completely independent of however easy he is to be manipulated.
  - frockington 9y ago
    This is the logical step I've never been to follow and I am open to understanding. If Trump, the GOP. and all of his supporters are idiots, how did they win? If the liberals and liberal candidates were so smart, why did they lose so badly? It seems it would be easy to control a mass of idiots. I'm not trying to flame, I've never been able to follow this logic and am interested in how others view it
    - SiempreViernes 9y ago
      While the question of how they won despite being idiots is interesting and important, I find it much more alarming that the fact they won an election somehow make the almost daily idiotic escapades of the administration unimportant evidence. Note that I am not making a claim about the supporters, just the orange and his staff. Why people voted as they did in the numbers they did is of course a much bigger question. But I mean, the obvious answer is that the election process itself is very flawed as it can elect an administration this bad, that's just empirical fact now.
    - rainieri 9y ago
      They aren't idiots. That's a big generalization to make. There are idiots on both sides as well as very smart people. Bad guys and good guys.
      - frockington 9y ago
        I completely agree. I think the outcome of event proves that. I am interested on how this generalization can be so pervasive in the media and among internet communities despite the democrats getting blown away in the presidential, congressional, and state elections
- dang 9y ago
  Please don't use HN for partisan flamewar, it's seriously destructive of the site. Regardless of which side you're supporting or opposing. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - rainieri 9y ago
    Neither supporting or opposing any side. How is this a threat to HN?
    - dang 9y ago
      It lowers discussion quality badly and provokes others into lowering it further.
frockington 9y ago
One could also be defined as someone in Russia (or another boogeyman de jour) finding funny memes and posting them on the internet to troll Americans. As an America I posted Brexit memes that I found funny, does that mean I am also destabilizing a country?
- EpicEng 9y ago
  >One could also be defined as someone in Russia (or another boogeyman de jour) finding funny memes and posting them on the internet to troll Americans Sure, in another universe where we didn't already know this stuff is a coordinated effort to destabilize our political system...
  - maze-le 9y ago
    Not to defend any of this crap, but if a political system is destabilized so easily, it probably wasn't very stable to begin with...
    - EpicEng 9y ago
      It's not utterly destabilized, this isn't black and white. We know for a fact that a foreign adversary is _attempting_ this, which is a hostile.action. How successful they have been is incredibly difficult to measure, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem.
      - maze-le 9y ago
        >> We know for a fact that a foreign adversary is _attempting_ this Yes, no one denied that. Its part of the equation, the russians are doing it yes, but so is everyone else (the US especially)... Im am pretty sure there are even assets in the services of Luxembourg, that have this task. It has been done in the past and will be done in the times to come. Disinfo campaigns are only a media topic right now, not because they are targeting the US (this has been done before), but because they are somewhat successful. >> which is a hostile.action Oh please, don't overreact. These campaigns are mean, divisive and unfair, but in the end they are -- in essence -- just words. Escalating them to a level of bellicosity is neither nessesary nor merited. >> How successful they have been is incredibly difficult to measure, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem. They are somewhat successful (not utterly of course), because there are wide fracture lines in the US society, that are not getting enough attention. If less people would feel disenfranchised and unrepresented -- left and right, native and immigrant, black and white -- These campaigns wouldn't be very effective.

rainieri 9y ago

Sorry destabilize the US government? Destabilize over the 2 options they ALWAYS have? Oh sorry you have a Republican government now. What a destabilization. So in conclusion the only dangerous thing in that election is the fact that Trump could be blackmailed. And Hillary can't be blackmailed? Hilarious. -- thanks for the downvotes.

themensch 9y ago
What is hilarious is that anyone could think any of those clowns are above reproach.
hankhill 9y ago
Next up: Russian trolls hit HN, too
SiempreViernes 9y ago
There are actually more than two options you know, at one point there were 17 nominees on the republican side. Out of all those 17, the biggest idiot won, and now you want to take away the best excuse for this fracas that the elites have come up with? I think the fact that the orange one is an idiot is pretty dangerous in and of itself, completely independent of however easy he is to be manipulated.
- frockington 9y ago
  This is the logical step I've never been to follow and I am open to understanding. If Trump, the GOP. and all of his supporters are idiots, how did they win? If the liberals and liberal candidates were so smart, why did they lose so badly? It seems it would be easy to control a mass of idiots. I'm not trying to flame, I've never been able to follow this logic and am interested in how others view it
  - SiempreViernes 9y ago
    While the question of how they won despite being idiots is interesting and important, I find it much more alarming that the fact they won an election somehow make the almost daily idiotic escapades of the administration unimportant evidence. Note that I am not making a claim about the supporters, just the orange and his staff. Why people voted as they did in the numbers they did is of course a much bigger question. But I mean, the obvious answer is that the election process itself is very flawed as it can elect an administration this bad, that's just empirical fact now.
  - rainieri 9y ago
    They aren't idiots. That's a big generalization to make. There are idiots on both sides as well as very smart people. Bad guys and good guys.
    - frockington 9y ago
      I completely agree. I think the outcome of event proves that. I am interested on how this generalization can be so pervasive in the media and among internet communities despite the democrats getting blown away in the presidential, congressional, and state elections
dang 9y ago
Please don't use HN for partisan flamewar, it's seriously destructive of the site. Regardless of which side you're supporting or opposing. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- rainieri 9y ago
  Neither supporting or opposing any side. How is this a threat to HN?
  - dang 9y ago
    It lowers discussion quality badly and provokes others into lowering it further.

frockington 9y ago

One could also be defined as someone in Russia (or another boogeyman de jour) finding funny memes and posting them on the internet to troll Americans. As an America I posted Brexit memes that I found funny, does that mean I am also destabilizing a country?

EpicEng 9y ago
>One could also be defined as someone in Russia (or another boogeyman de jour) finding funny memes and posting them on the internet to troll Americans Sure, in another universe where we didn't already know this stuff is a coordinated effort to destabilize our political system...
- maze-le 9y ago
  Not to defend any of this crap, but if a political system is destabilized so easily, it probably wasn't very stable to begin with...
  - EpicEng 9y ago
    It's not utterly destabilized, this isn't black and white. We know for a fact that a foreign adversary is _attempting_ this, which is a hostile.action. How successful they have been is incredibly difficult to measure, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem.
    - maze-le 9y ago
      >> We know for a fact that a foreign adversary is _attempting_ this Yes, no one denied that. Its part of the equation, the russians are doing it yes, but so is everyone else (the US especially)... Im am pretty sure there are even assets in the services of Luxembourg, that have this task. It has been done in the past and will be done in the times to come. Disinfo campaigns are only a media topic right now, not because they are targeting the US (this has been done before), but because they are somewhat successful. >> which is a hostile.action Oh please, don't overreact. These campaigns are mean, divisive and unfair, but in the end they are -- in essence -- just words. Escalating them to a level of bellicosity is neither nessesary nor merited. >> How successful they have been is incredibly difficult to measure, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem. They are somewhat successful (not utterly of course), because there are wide fracture lines in the US society, that are not getting enough attention. If less people would feel disenfranchised and unrepresented -- left and right, native and immigrant, black and white -- These campaigns wouldn't be very effective.