Comment by wayoutthere

This is already the case here; and still the flame wars get out of control.

One thing to keep in mind; the moderation on HN is absolutely designed to steer the conversation in a direction (one in line with YCs mission / vision). Most political topics that veer from centrist make-nice are not in line with that direction.

YCs moderation is a paid, editorial position. This ain’t Reddit, and to the degree that HN has regular users in the mod loop, it’s usually in a democratized way (flagging / vouching comments, the way up/downvotes work, etc.) The goals are different, and HN absolutely becomes a cesspool on any political topic when it’s left to simmer (lest you think the commenters here are of any higher quality than elsewhere on the Internet — in my experience HN tends to have more user crossover with Reddit than anywhere).