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With all due respect to Obama and the United States, if every country's leaders speeches are to be submitted as "Hacker News" because there is a mention of te

With all due respect to Obama and the United States, if every country's leaders speeches are to be submitted as "Hacker News" because there is a mention of technology somewhere in it, we are in for a lot of politics on this forum. To most non Americans democrat and republican talking points about the latest political issue are just noise. This is a US politicians speech with other US politicians approving or disapproving. Please, have some mercy on the rest of us. Think about it for a second. What would you think if random speeches from say Ukraine's President were posted as Hacker News because he mentioned technology in a speech to Ukrainian children? (and then the Ukrainians on this forum, who have the numbers to upvote anything onto the front page, started political bickering).

hughprime 17y ago
I don't hate US political discussions because I'm not interested in US politics. I hate US political discussions because I am interested in US politics. Politics produces bad discussion, pure and simple. People express poorly-supported opinions, use lousy arguments, and attack each other personally. And yet, since I'm interested in politics, I'll usually wind up reading them, and find myself annoyed every time someone whose opinions differ from mine uses a bad argument. It sets off my "Oh no, someone is wrong on the internet!" reflexes, and generally is a drag. Like it or not, this is a political thread. Democrat sympathisers will invaribly think this speech is anywhere from "pretty good" to "brilliant" while Republican sympathisers will think it's anything from "so-so hokey platitudes" to "awful". And if it had been given by a Republican president the opinions would almost certainly be reversed, making the entire thing a waste of time for everybody.
andrew1 17y ago
As a non-American this is interesting to me (and possibly others) for a couple of reasons: * American politics has a large bearing on my life. America's decisions about finance, foreign policy, fuel, war etc. affect us all. So it's nice to see that the current President is able to eloquently deliver a speech, and it's reassuring to think that he has the talents to be able to speak sensibly and convincingly in tense negotiations with a hypothetocal enraged Iranian President. * Presumably most of the start-up type people here are going to be doing some selling at some point - there's a lot to be learned from speeches of this quality. Would I like to see random speeches from the Ukrainian President on here? If it's a good speech and I can take something from it then why not?
- plinkplonk 17y ago
  "American politics has a large bearing on my life. America's decisions about finance, foreign policy, fuel, war etc. affect us all" So does, say Chinese "decisions about finance, foreign policy, fuel, war etc". Hardly a good reason to post propaganda/political speeches of the Chinese president to HN. For that matter Al queda's policy decisions affect people all over the world. Not reason enough to post Osama Bin Laden's latest polemic on HN. I can even make tenuous "similiarities/relevance to startups" arguments. Taking on"established" foes check!, resource constrained, check! Tenacity and ingenuity key to victory? check! All this is not sufficient reason to discuss AQ (and its politics and speeches) here. fwiw the HN guidelines do say "Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon." and "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic" This is so a US local political issue and it is so on TV. "Would I like to see random speeches from the Ukrainian President on here? If it's a good speech and I can take something from it then why not?" Ukrainian (or Chinese) politics getting as much votes as the latest political kerfuffle on American TV ? That'll be the day! Please go through HN and show me one instance of a non American local political story that making the HN front page? "speech of this quality". This speech is of a superior quality? Compared to a speaking challenged Bush, sure. Compared to Clinton, not so much. Most politicians good enough to become US president are eloquent (or have good speechwriters). But essentially this speech is just a bunch of heart warming empty phrases, a "motherhood and apple pie" speech which addresses a political need in the USA. It is hardly the declaration or detailing of a new policy that will affect the world. Ahh, go ahead, turn HN into a forum to discuss American politics. The moderators don't seem to care. Why should I?
  - roc 17y ago
    It was an almost entirely apolitical speech to children about personal responsibility, with points that apply to anyone starting something new, learning, or seeking inspiration. I get a little discouraged by the quantity of political articles on HN and I'm an American. So I can appreciate the frustration non-Americans might feel. But this is perhaps the wrong speech to take arms against.
    - 17y ago

hughprime 17y ago

I don't hate US political discussions because I'm not interested in US politics. I hate US political discussions because I am interested in US politics. Politics produces bad discussion, pure and simple. People express poorly-supported opinions, use lousy arguments, and attack each other personally. And yet, since I'm interested in politics, I'll usually wind up reading them, and find myself annoyed every time someone whose opinions differ from mine uses a bad argument. It sets off my "Oh no, someone is wrong on the internet!" reflexes, and generally is a drag. Like it or not, this is a political thread. Democrat sympathisers will invaribly think this speech is anywhere from "pretty good" to "brilliant" while Republican sympathisers will think it's anything from "so-so hokey platitudes" to "awful". And if it had been given by a Republican president the opinions would almost certainly be reversed, making the entire thing a waste of time for everybody.

andrew1 17y ago

As a non-American this is interesting to me (and possibly others) for a couple of reasons: * American politics has a large bearing on my life. America's decisions about finance, foreign policy, fuel, war etc. affect us all. So it's nice to see that the current President is able to eloquently deliver a speech, and it's reassuring to think that he has the talents to be able to speak sensibly and convincingly in tense negotiations with a hypothetocal enraged Iranian President. * Presumably most of the start-up type people here are going to be doing some selling at some point - there's a lot to be learned from speeches of this quality. Would I like to see random speeches from the Ukrainian President on here? If it's a good speech and I can take something from it then why not?

plinkplonk 17y ago
"American politics has a large bearing on my life. America's decisions about finance, foreign policy, fuel, war etc. affect us all" So does, say Chinese "decisions about finance, foreign policy, fuel, war etc". Hardly a good reason to post propaganda/political speeches of the Chinese president to HN. For that matter Al queda's policy decisions affect people all over the world. Not reason enough to post Osama Bin Laden's latest polemic on HN. I can even make tenuous "similiarities/relevance to startups" arguments. Taking on"established" foes check!, resource constrained, check! Tenacity and ingenuity key to victory? check! All this is not sufficient reason to discuss AQ (and its politics and speeches) here. fwiw the HN guidelines do say "Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon." and "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic" This is so a US local political issue and it is so on TV. "Would I like to see random speeches from the Ukrainian President on here? If it's a good speech and I can take something from it then why not?" Ukrainian (or Chinese) politics getting as much votes as the latest political kerfuffle on American TV ? That'll be the day! Please go through HN and show me one instance of a non American local political story that making the HN front page? "speech of this quality". This speech is of a superior quality? Compared to a speaking challenged Bush, sure. Compared to Clinton, not so much. Most politicians good enough to become US president are eloquent (or have good speechwriters). But essentially this speech is just a bunch of heart warming empty phrases, a "motherhood and apple pie" speech which addresses a political need in the USA. It is hardly the declaration or detailing of a new policy that will affect the world. Ahh, go ahead, turn HN into a forum to discuss American politics. The moderators don't seem to care. Why should I?
- roc 17y ago
  It was an almost entirely apolitical speech to children about personal responsibility, with points that apply to anyone starting something new, learning, or seeking inspiration. I get a little discouraged by the quantity of political articles on HN and I'm an American. So I can appreciate the frustration non-Americans might feel. But this is perhaps the wrong speech to take arms against.
  - 17y ago