Hacker News Reader

Comment by mjfl | Hacker News Reader

There are probably a good number of Republican voters hired at Facebook. Most of those employees will be supporting Kavanaugh's nomination. There are obviously many Democrat voters employed at Facebook who won't be supporting Kavanaugh. Anyone who finds either of these two facts unacceptable should immediately walk away from their jobs or be terminated. The only alternative is to accept that there is effectively a civil war happening, one side must be cleared out, and pick a side. To me that is just insanity.

View on HN

I don't think anybody in the tech industry has the balls to come out as a Republican. The backlash would be awful. Thank God votes are secret, still.

That's pretty scary when you think about it.

> in the tech industry

In the liberal bubble that is the Bay area. There's tech industry outside of that bubble, throughout the Midwest, in cities like Austin. SF isn't the only place people are writing software.

Speaking as a non-american: People don't want to come out as Republican because of how corrupt Republican representation has become.

Republicans used to be respectable. There's still a few respectable figures in Congress and the Senate but even they have to follow the abhorrently partisanship, otherwise they aren't getting reelected.

The republican base has turned on its head and has been massively radicalized.

So if you "come out" as a republican, today, in this climate, then you're outright saying you agree with this radicalization. (Regardless of whether you do agree)

I know a lot of republicans who don't agree with it and, right now, there isn't really a party for them. So they still call themselves republicans and either lie to themselves to deal with their choice (or ignore the bad news), or they fall into the constant propaganda. I've seen several end up converting to Democrats (or at least strongly consider it).

Theory: I suspect the US, after all these decades, is finally correcting back towards a less right-shifted spectrum. As the current GOP moves to the extreme-right, non-extremists shift left and, if they end up democrats, there will probably be a split of the "Liberal" party and the "Democratic" party. This would mirror the more European models.

Everything you said could also be said about the Democrats, except the safe to come out as a Democrat because they control all of the media, tech companies, and generally hold power in the West.

They generally hold power in urban areas, not just the west. The rest of the country tends right.

As you say, both parties are often corrupt, the reps tend to be the family values party so you actually hear about it when they have a problem in that area. It's expected in the democrat world and nobody cares, plus they own the media almost wholly so it's not really reported much.

Even as you sit with an extreme-right president and near-state-sanctioned hard-right media, you claim that "Democrats are in control".

And why exactly do you claim that? How is it relevant? I'm answering a completely different question, about "coming out" as republican.

> Even as you sit with an extreme-right president and near-state-sanctioned hard-right media, you claim that "Democrats are in control".

The press and Trump are basically at war with one another. I can't see how you can claim they're both hard right. All the mainstream press (aside from Fox) endorsed Clinton.

Fox isn't just "any" media, it's state media. Your president watches it religiously and they have an immense influence over what he says.

He has chosen to go to war with the press. To shut out reporters from the press corps. To viciously and regularly attack various media.

You are slowly approaching a Russian-like regime where, if an outlet is not to the president's liking, it gets shut out entirely. It's blatant, and most republicans refuse to acknowledge it (all the while claiming they're pro free speech etc).

Will you personally also be OK with that when it happens, since "well at least the democrats won't be in control anymore"?

I'm scared for your country. Seeing the effect of propaganda after-the-fact in countries like Russia, North Korea, China, and many other dictatorships... it's one thing. Seeing it happen live, that's just out of this world for me.

>All the mainstream press (aside from Fox) endorsed Clinton.

It is possible to endorse Clinton without being a puppet for some DNC controlled leftist conspiracy, especially when the only other option vocally denounces you as a puppet for some DNC controlled leftist conspiracy. Why would anyone but Fox News support Trump in that case?

That being said, media "endorsing" candidates is a practice that should probably be ended anyway. But it's still worth pointing out that endorsing a candidate is not necessarily the same as agreeing to take orders from that candidate's party.

Like Fox News???

Yes, CNN even NYT at this point is clearly partisan.

I say this as neither a Republican or Democrat. Both sides are equally foolish.

I don't think republicans have ever been respectable except back when they were actually "democrats". In 1860 the democrats were largely racist southerns bent on states rights and the republicans were northerners who viewed the expansion of the Federal government as a good thing for social justice and the country. By 1930 the parties had effectively swapped names which the modern political reality reflects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_State...

I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of Randian republicans all across the tech industry.

> I don't think anybody in the tech industry has the balls to come out as a Republican. The backlash would be awful.

Indeed it's quite rare. Look at how the few Republican supporting tech leaders get crucified (ex: Thiel). Most people don't want do deal with that and even fewer have the financial resources to risk being blackballed.

> Thank God votes are secret, still.

Damn straight. Though it does make it awkward trying to explain the concept of a silent majority in the midst of raving leftists.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com