6 ms·

Why I Support Barack Obama

32 points by Mistone 18y ago

iigs 18y ago
This really isn't hacker news, even if Mr. O'Reilly has been on a preaching-about-startups kick.
- unalone 18y ago
  It's news that's interesting to hackers. I think that the comments in particular are refreshing - there is a good debate coming from both sides. So I upped it. It's a good read, and that's what I come to this site looking for.
- deleted 18y ago
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- ksvs 18y ago
  The fact that a link is about politics doesn't mean that it's not hacker news. The overlap isn't zero. And arguably anything Tim O'Reilly takes the time to write a long piece like this about is ipso facto hacker news, because he is one of the leading thinkers about hacking.
tptacek 18y ago
This would only have been news if he didn't support Obama.
- Timothee 18y ago
  Or if it had been Bill O'Reilly. Which would have made this piece really out of place on HN...
- kingkongrevenge 18y ago
  Has he long been known as a socialist? It was news to me. I hope I'm not the only one who found this piece alternately very creepy and idiotic. Creepy for the naive statism and high hopes for government power and efficiency. (You WANT the government to regulate the internet? Really!?) Idiotic in the ignorance of economic matters: blaming laissez faire for the current crisis; misunderstanding that Obama and the democrats get much more wall st. money.
  - Prrometheus 18y ago
    We have to fight the growth of authoritarian government by electing the guy who A) spinelessly voted with his party on all the privacy-destroying measures asked for by Bush, sometimes with token resistance and B) wants the government to have much more power over society. Don't forget, he's a great leader, intelligent and courageous, though he's never had an original thought or differed from his party on any significant issue. I wouldn't dislike him so much as President if there were going to be some substantial resistance from an opposition party, but it looks like the Congressional Republicans are going to get destroyed.
    - davidw 18y ago
      Tim O'Reilly's piece is "idiotic" and Obama has "never had an original thought". These political discussions sure bring out the best in people.
thras 18y ago
Good god, I can't wait for election season to be over. People buy into the stupid election propaganda more and more every 4 years.
- unalone 18y ago
  Propaganda? Reading up on candidates, being enthused about them, and voting based on the issues you believe in, isn't the same as buying into propaganda. You have a right to your cynicism, but don't mock the people who genuinely care.
  - thras 18y ago
    They've genuinely cared so much that their brains have fallen out. I will continue mock them mercilessly. Mock Mock.
    - unalone 18y ago
      Frankly, I think it's worth the effort to research candidates and pick the one you think will make the country better. I've read up on Obama and McCain for quite a while, and I place my vote for Obama with confidence. My time was well-spent.
      - kingkongrevenge 18y ago
        In none of the elections within my lifetime have elected candidates ended up doing anything remotely resembling their platforms. You often got the exact opposite. Bush was going to shrink the government and run a humble foreign policy. Clinton was going to massively expand social programs but instead the bond market constrained him and you got the opposite. On this track record alone voting is a waste of time. I hope once it becomes clear within a couple years how much of a standard issue establishment tool Obama is that you learn your lesson and remember it rather than get sucked into delusions next time around.
  - Prrometheus 18y ago
    He is simply looking at what the candidates say they will do. Based on their actions, Obama has one of the most partisan voting records in Congress. He does whatever the Democratic Party does. As President, he will be driven by Congress, he will sign any legislation written by the blue team. Surveillance laws will not be repealed. Non-farmers will be screwed over to benefit farmers. Young people will be screwed over to pay off elderly voters. Consumers will be screwed over to benefit unions. School children will be screwed over to benefit the NEA. Future generations will be screwed over to benefit current generations. Funding for new programs to make Americans more dependent on government will be piled on top of a deficit fast approaching $1 trillion. His speech might be sparkling, but his record does not fill me with Hope. I miss gridlock.
mynameishere 18y ago
It's clear that the era of hands-off government is over. Indeed, that's been clear since Hammurabi. WTF is wrong with this guy? Almost every industry is highly regulated except for...oh, I don't know...the book industry. Maybe it's time for an "unfettered capitalist" like Mr. O' Reilly to be regulated, to prevent the damage he's been doing. (Damage being variously defined by whatever phantasms J. Random Bureaucrat determines.) The hand that feeds.
- Prrometheus 18y ago
  Think of the problem unregulated websites could cause. One poorly designed one could infect people with spyware that could cause the whole system to crash. Clearly, it's time to end this unfettered market and bring some much needed regulation to the web. Each proposed website or change to a website should go through a careful review by an appropriate government agency before it goes live. This is clearly becoming more important as more financial information and other sensitive data goes over the web.
Mistone 18y ago
he addresses some key tech/web issues, and well its tim o'rielly so at the very least its going to be based on some points relevant to hackers.
perdurabo 18y ago
Thank you for making this site one step closer to a Reddit clone and one step closer to being unsubscribed from.
vaksel 18y ago
wow thats a long endorsement
DanielBMarkham 18y ago
Seems like I remember a commentary yesterday about schools of higher education that at the end had sentence like "and this is just a preface to discuss the media's treatment of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama" Otherwise it seemed to be a well-written argument against formal higher education. That post was denounced as being partisan. WTF? Just checking. My bullshit detector is going off with how you guys view what's partisan and what's not around here.
- davidw 18y ago
  I think this deserves killing just as much as the other article. Look at how bad some of the commentary is already.
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32 points by Mistone 18y ago

iigs 18y ago

This really isn't hacker news, even if Mr. O'Reilly has been on a preaching-about-startups kick.

unalone 18y ago
It's news that's interesting to hackers. I think that the comments in particular are refreshing - there is a good debate coming from both sides. So I upped it. It's a good read, and that's what I come to this site looking for.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
ksvs 18y ago
The fact that a link is about politics doesn't mean that it's not hacker news. The overlap isn't zero. And arguably anything Tim O'Reilly takes the time to write a long piece like this about is ipso facto hacker news, because he is one of the leading thinkers about hacking.

tptacek 18y ago

This would only have been news if he didn't support Obama.

Timothee 18y ago
Or if it had been Bill O'Reilly. Which would have made this piece really out of place on HN...
kingkongrevenge 18y ago
Has he long been known as a socialist? It was news to me. I hope I'm not the only one who found this piece alternately very creepy and idiotic. Creepy for the naive statism and high hopes for government power and efficiency. (You WANT the government to regulate the internet? Really!?) Idiotic in the ignorance of economic matters: blaming laissez faire for the current crisis; misunderstanding that Obama and the democrats get much more wall st. money.
- Prrometheus 18y ago
  We have to fight the growth of authoritarian government by electing the guy who A) spinelessly voted with his party on all the privacy-destroying measures asked for by Bush, sometimes with token resistance and B) wants the government to have much more power over society. Don't forget, he's a great leader, intelligent and courageous, though he's never had an original thought or differed from his party on any significant issue. I wouldn't dislike him so much as President if there were going to be some substantial resistance from an opposition party, but it looks like the Congressional Republicans are going to get destroyed.
  - davidw 18y ago
    Tim O'Reilly's piece is "idiotic" and Obama has "never had an original thought". These political discussions sure bring out the best in people.

thras 18y ago

Good god, I can't wait for election season to be over. People buy into the stupid election propaganda more and more every 4 years.

unalone 18y ago
Propaganda? Reading up on candidates, being enthused about them, and voting based on the issues you believe in, isn't the same as buying into propaganda. You have a right to your cynicism, but don't mock the people who genuinely care.
- thras 18y ago
  They've genuinely cared so much that their brains have fallen out. I will continue mock them mercilessly. Mock Mock.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Frankly, I think it's worth the effort to research candidates and pick the one you think will make the country better. I've read up on Obama and McCain for quite a while, and I place my vote for Obama with confidence. My time was well-spent.
    - kingkongrevenge 18y ago
      In none of the elections within my lifetime have elected candidates ended up doing anything remotely resembling their platforms. You often got the exact opposite. Bush was going to shrink the government and run a humble foreign policy. Clinton was going to massively expand social programs but instead the bond market constrained him and you got the opposite. On this track record alone voting is a waste of time. I hope once it becomes clear within a couple years how much of a standard issue establishment tool Obama is that you learn your lesson and remember it rather than get sucked into delusions next time around.
- Prrometheus 18y ago
  He is simply looking at what the candidates say they will do. Based on their actions, Obama has one of the most partisan voting records in Congress. He does whatever the Democratic Party does. As President, he will be driven by Congress, he will sign any legislation written by the blue team. Surveillance laws will not be repealed. Non-farmers will be screwed over to benefit farmers. Young people will be screwed over to pay off elderly voters. Consumers will be screwed over to benefit unions. School children will be screwed over to benefit the NEA. Future generations will be screwed over to benefit current generations. Funding for new programs to make Americans more dependent on government will be piled on top of a deficit fast approaching $1 trillion. His speech might be sparkling, but his record does not fill me with Hope. I miss gridlock.

mynameishere 18y ago

It's clear that the era of hands-off government is over. Indeed, that's been clear since Hammurabi. WTF is wrong with this guy? Almost every industry is highly regulated except for...oh, I don't know...the book industry. Maybe it's time for an "unfettered capitalist" like Mr. O' Reilly to be regulated, to prevent the damage he's been doing. (Damage being variously defined by whatever phantasms J. Random Bureaucrat determines.) The hand that feeds.

Prrometheus 18y ago
Think of the problem unregulated websites could cause. One poorly designed one could infect people with spyware that could cause the whole system to crash. Clearly, it's time to end this unfettered market and bring some much needed regulation to the web. Each proposed website or change to a website should go through a careful review by an appropriate government agency before it goes live. This is clearly becoming more important as more financial information and other sensitive data goes over the web.

Mistone 18y ago

he addresses some key tech/web issues, and well its tim o'rielly so at the very least its going to be based on some points relevant to hackers.

perdurabo 18y ago

Thank you for making this site one step closer to a Reddit clone and one step closer to being unsubscribed from.

vaksel 18y ago

wow thats a long endorsement

DanielBMarkham 18y ago

Seems like I remember a commentary yesterday about schools of higher education that at the end had sentence like "and this is just a preface to discuss the media's treatment of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama" Otherwise it seemed to be a well-written argument against formal higher education. That post was denounced as being partisan. WTF? Just checking. My bullshit detector is going off with how you guys view what's partisan and what's not around here.

davidw 18y ago
I think this deserves killing just as much as the other article. Look at how bad some of the commentary is already.
- deleted 18y ago
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deleted 18y ago

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