I hear you, but the question is whether HN should become a site that is only about politics. Clearly it should not, and it's our job to make sure that doesn't happen.
HN has had plenty of discussions of the Trump administration. A certain amount is ok—it depends on the story—but the latest news about who may or may not have spoken to an ambassador doesn't come close to the threshold. It's not a borderline call; it's not even in the ball park. If we allow that, we allow everything. In that case politics would certainly take over the site. This story was at #1 before we demoted it!
The worst thing to post or upvote is something that's intensely but shallowly interesting: gossip about famous people, funny or cute pictures or videos, partisan political articles, etc. If you let that sort of thing onto a news site, it will push aside the deeply interesting stuff, which tends to be quieter.
> the latest news about who may or may not have spoken to an ambassador
I agree, that would be a "garden-variety political story." This isn't that story. This is a story about the Attorney General of the United States lying under oath and perjuring himself to Congress.
It doesn't really matter what kind of news aggregator you're running: tech, sports, gardening... that's a story that should be at the top of all of them.
HN has had plenty of discussions of the Trump administration. A certain amount is ok—it depends on the story—but the latest news about who may or may not have spoken to an ambassador doesn't come close to the threshold. It's not a borderline call; it's not even in the ball park. If we allow that, we allow everything. In that case politics would certainly take over the site. This story was at #1 before we demoted it!
The worst thing to post or upvote is something that's intensely but shallowly interesting: gossip about famous people, funny or cute pictures or videos, partisan political articles, etc. If you let that sort of thing onto a news site, it will push aside the deeply interesting stuff, which tends to be quieter.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html