A deeply nested comment like that would not be so flagged by multiple users in a couple of minutes, especially on an article that garnered a total of 54 points

A deeply nested comment like that would not be so flagged by multiple users in a couple of minutes, especially on an article that garnered a total of 54 points and 70 comments. Not enough eyeballs to do that. You call it a personal attack--I call it a logical observation: one who advocates authoritarianism is a tyrant. Of course, authoritarian tyrants don't like to be called so. "Hurtful" and "problematic" opinions must be shamed. HN ought to be concerned with the proliferation of authoritarianism rather than calling it out. Oppression flourishes where honest criticism is not allowed. "Democracy dies in darkness," right?