
Zuckerberg Faces Anger Over Facebook Executive’s Kavanaugh Support - hnburnsy
https://www.wsj.com/articles/zuckerberg-seeks-to-quell-employee-anger-over-facebook-executives-appearance-at-kavanaugh-hearing-1538687361
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thecleaner
I don't understand this. Kavanaugh hasnt been proven to be guilty. There are
credible allegations which demand a further investigation as is being
conducted by the FBI. Beyond that apart from his clumsiness at the testimony
there isnt much going on against him. If these people are so data driven how
come they choose to believe things for which we have no evidence. You may mock
him for losing his cool but thats just about it. Anything beyond that is
questionable and shouldnt be taken as the truth.

~~~
viggity
Ford's testimony appeared credible. However, there is no contemporaneous
corroboration, even from her long-time friend who not only didn't corroborate
it, she refuted that she had even met Kavanaugh.

Ramirez, Swetnik allegations are not credible. They too have no corroboration.

While I've seen plenty of people decry Rachel Mitchell's letter to the
Republican Senators as "political", I have yet to see anyone refute the
content of that letter. ([https://www.axios.com/brett-kavanaugh-rachel-
mitchell-prosec...](https://www.axios.com/brett-kavanaugh-rachel-mitchell-
prosecutor-memo-2c3233cc-1d42-416b-af04-02700aa9a711.html))

There isn't an honest prosecutor who could get an indictment, let alone a
conviction.

~~~
dickinson99
>Ford's testimony appeared credible

Did you even watch it?

~~~
viggity
yes. the entire thing.

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fareesh
Why is there so much political activism inside tech companies? Shouldn't this
person actually do something wrong at his job before the mob goes after him?
How long before you can't be an executive if you hunt, or eat meat?

~~~
lillesvin
People being good at their jobs isn't the only thing that matters if you're
working under their direction. Especially if they're also a large part of the
company's public image.

If people are uncomfortable with their CEO eating meat then they should be
free to ask about it and voice their opinions. If the CEO wants to change
anything because of that is entirely up to him/her, just like how people are
free to resign if they feel strongly enough about it.

~~~
g8oz
>>If people are uncomfortable with their CEO eating meat then they should be
free to ask about it and voice their opinions.

But really, who would be that obnoxious?

~~~
Dancecity
Is this sarcasm or have you never met vegans?

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mjfl
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.

~~~
gassed
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.

~~~
scrollaway
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.

~~~
malvosenior
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.

~~~
scrollaway
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.

~~~
malvosenior
> _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.

~~~
scrollaway
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.

------
keiferski
It’s interesting to see that today’s business culture is essentially the
opposite of “professional”, in the sense of “not-personal.” These kinds of
conflicts are inevitable when you start mixing personal and professional value
systems.

I would not be surprised to see a return to a strict professional/ personal
divide in the near future.

~~~
dexen
I agree with your assessment and prognosis, and look forward to employers and
employees being held to somewhat higher standard of mutual tolerance (even if
begrudging) and cooperation, and generally keeping it business-first while on
the clock. If one wishes to protest or take other political action, sure, take
a day off and head to D.C. or other visible public space.

A throw-away thought: business attire used to be a clear distinction between
the time in official capacity, and the private time. With that mostly gone in
tech, and given the 24/7 cellphone, email & IM connection, the distinction
between workplace and personal doesn't feel all that clear.

That being said, there exists an idea that "the personal is political"[1];
politics supposedly permeate all of one's life. It is further expanded to
claim that anybody who is able to avoid mixing politics with daily activities,
or able to avoid strongly siding with a political, is benefiting from the
current power structure (aka _" the system"_), and further reinforces said
_system_ by staying passive. I think there's a _small_ grain of truth to it,
but when becomes an overriding concern and disruptive to teamwork[2] or family
& social life[3], something went very wrong.

\--

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_personal_is_political](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_personal_is_political)

[2] as in people asking for firing of _others_ , or refusing to work with with
or mentor _others_

[3] recently a "Divorce your Republican husbands." tweet made rounds. Not
linking it as it feels too incendiary for HN.

~~~
bvadams
If the personal is political then we have no refuge from politics. And the
only people that say this are the type that want only their specific brands of
politics to dominate public and private life.

~~~
angry_octet
If you're a persecuted minority you don't get time out from being persecuted.
If your school's teachers need food stamps to survive you don't have a 'refuge
from politics'. If you get sick and can't afford health care you don't have
the luxury of 'avoiding politics'.

People's politics have consequences, and they should own them.

~~~
malvosenior
No. Living a content life and focusing on your own problems is not political.
"The personal is political" _is_ a hyper partisan statement and anyone not on
the extreme left would reject this idea wholesale.

What this concept implicitly states is that if you're happy and 100% of the
human population is not living at your socioeconomic level, then you're making
a political statement. It's pure BS.

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marsrover
I don’t know much about Kaplan but after this I have respect for him. It
couldn’t have been easy to support his friend knowing full well all of
Facebook’s employees are going to try to crucify him after.

