This happened on the other link to their message board, and it doesn't surprise me - the CEO has plopped himself in the middle of a very charged issue, making it difficult to discuss the issue without it getting personal. HN is great, due in large part to the moderators knowing what they're doing, but a little more transparency on flagging would be nice (like @dang's unlink and retitle messages). This sort of thing is only going to become more important as information manipulation in old media becomes less effective on people who form their opinions in places like this.