users tend to be quite good at flagging most highly political stories, so they disappear off the front page pretty quickly but can still be found by those who really want to engage. The status quo is good imo
Most of what we do is "done silently and only admitted to after the fact". HN is a curated/moderated site; it always has been. We don't publish a moderation log but it's always possible to get an answer to a question—you just have to ask.
I read like 2-3 links max on my visits here.