Also, HN was drowned out for the first week or so. Then it became a steady trickle. Then a bunch of people, presumably such as yourself, decided that even that trickle was irritating to them and started flagging NSA stories on sight. Since then the trickle has died out, and there is nothing.
Obama and his cohorts can go back to bed in peace, knowing this was just another internet fad and, as predicted, the geeks are easily distracted by some new gadgets or talk of technical gimmicks.
Yes, because Obama and his cohorts were really sweating over what Hacker News thought about anything.