[peterwwillis]

You have to understand that HN is an artificial environment, specifically curated to dictate the behavior and thought processes of its users. It is a safe space for nerds who don't want to think about scary things like politics. If it causes heated "uncivil" conversation, it's off-limits here. Especially if the conversation is about civics.

[nathanaldensr]

I reject your condescending characterization of HN readership as "nerds who don't want to think about scary things like politics." I think about "scary" politics all the time, thank you, but I still don't want these discussions on HN.

HN is not Reddit. HN is not Twitter. HN is not Facebook. HN's readership is making it clear through the site's moderation tools that they, to some critical degree, do not want content such as this on HN. There are plenty of other forums for the politically-minded to be activists.