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Comment by cletus | Hacker News Reader

So is your argument that leaking the memo justifies opening up your colleagues to public attacks and harassment? I sure hope not.

You're not the only person to have mentioned that the memo leaked. So what? That's basically the "well, they started it!" argument. Or even "two wrongs make a right".

Knowingly opening up colleagues to a barrage of hate is a vile act. There is no justification for it. Condemn the leak of the memo if you want but it is unrelated.

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It's not unrelated, to quote your original comment:

> If you're a white male conservative Google engineer who feels oppressed and leaks such details, maybe the best thing for you to do is question your belief system that's so warped that you've managed to convince yourself that that's OK. Because it isn't.

Here you are implying that white male conservative Google engineers who leak such details should question their warped belief system, yet you're excusing others who presumably aren't white male conservatives who have done exactly the same thing.

I was responding to this element of the parent post: "The low point to me is how some (reference in the article) feel justified in leaking conversations and personal details of their coworkers to the likes of Breitbart.". Tit-for-tat tactics aren't justifiable, but they're hardly surprising and I was pointing out that by leaking the memo, one side legitimized that tactic. It's an observation, not a value judgement.

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