
Obama to hit Y Combinator headquarters in Mountain View on May 8 - kqr2
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/04/18/new-obama-to-hit-y-combinator-headquarters-in-mt-view-on-may-8/
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dang
All: to judge by the first dozen comments or so, this thread seems headed to a
dismayingly low-quality place. When you post, please ensure that whatever
opinion your comment expresses, it points in a thoughtful, non-reflexive
direction. This leaves lots of room for whatever position you want to
articulate—it just requires conscious care.

(Just in case anyone's wondering, I'm saying this purely from the HN side. I
learned about this event by seeing it at #1 on the front page five minutes ago
and haven't discussed it with anyone at YC.)

Edit: For the curious, the post is being weighed down entirely by user flags.

~~~
lancewiggs
It might be constructive to create a "top 3 questions from HN to ask the
President". For me they would be around political funding & the power of lobby
groups, immigration reform and privacy/surveillance.

~~~
waterlesscloud
No one is going to ask him anything the least bit upsetting at an event like
this.

~~~
WalterSear
I am wondering where all the downvotes are coming from.

~~~
zorn09
They are coming because the bubble that exists around our politicians and the
fawning rich upper class and idiot lower class (democrat or republican) is to
put it simply, bursting.

People are getting fed up with the ideologue denigrating wealth and success
and hard work, then he goes to the rich elite of the elite in silicon valley
with his hand out like a common beggar.

Hypocrites.

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downandout
It's disappointing that demand for tickets to have dinner with him would be so
great in Silicon Valley. He really screwed the Valley with this NSA stuff,
among other things, and has forever damaged the trust that the world once had
in US technology companies. He has directly taken money away from any Valley
business whose customers are sensitive to such issues.

I realize that the Valley leans markedly to the left, but at some point you
have to take a stand against people that are messing up, even if you agree
with their political ideologies.

~~~
gadders
I always thought HN and YC were largely apolitical. I guess not.

~~~
downandout
It's especially disappointing that Anne Wojcicki (estranged wife of Sergey
Brin) and Marissa Mayer would orchestrate this. They are lending serious tech
community credibility and support to someone that deserves none of it. By
hosting someone that has clearly damaged us, has not apologized for it, and
seems to have every intention of continuing to do so, they are kind of
betraying us.

~~~
anigbrowl
Then again, maybe some people disagree with your premise.

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philwelch
This is disappointing. Marissa Mayer is probably already a lost cause, but for
Sam Altman to co-host a Democratic fundraiser starring Obama shows that Y
Combinator is firmly in the "establishment". How, in good conscience, can they
support a president who has done nothing of substance about the NSA's abuses?

I can see this being cast as a pragmatic move--this is part of how you buy and
sell influence, and YC is a big enough player now that if they can buy
influence on behalf of their interests (i.e. the interests of the startups
they fund) they derive a real benefit, but it's disappointing to see them
participate in a corrupt system instead of trying to disrupt it.

~~~
sama
planning to ask about surveillance issues.

~~~
philwelch
I guess I just naively hoped that you'd make sure you were on the same page
with someone about surveillance issues _before_ you helped him raise large
amounts of money. But maybe that's not how politics work.

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argumentum
YC is playing in the big leagues now. This should be viewed as no different
than Obama (or other campaigning politician) going to Google or Facebook. Such
events don't fundamentally alter the organizations involved and could be a
great opportunity to advance issues like the founder visa & patent reform.

Regardless what you think of Obama or his policies, it's better that the most
powerful person on earth hears from startups _as well_ as the giant
corporations that already have his ear. Startups are a huge part of the _real_
tech industry, but have been politically invisible to this point.

There is no organization today that can better represent the policy needs of
small, scrappy startups than Y-Combinator.

This is great.

~~~
WalterSear
I think this is about image, not influence. Y combinator is much hipper than
google, and makes for a much better media story.

~~~
mikeyouse
99% of the country has never heard of YC, it's probably closer to 100% in the
midterm battleground states. This clearly isn't about being 'Hip'.

~~~
WalterSear
They are also used to not hearing about things that become huge overnight. It
will play much better in the press for him to have gone to 'some place where
they make start ups' than a more faceless corporate behemoth. It's simply a
better media opportunity.

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logn
I'd like to see a total cost for these trips. Last time I saw the president
drive by for a fund-raiser, they closed down the entire route on the roads he
was to take. At every driveway, parking lot and intersection, there were
police. The motorcade stretched a couple blocks. Preparation took place weeks
in advance. Add in Air Force One costs and to me these fund-raisers seems like
nothing more than money laundering.

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davi
Given the hosts and the venue, the best topic to bring up could be software
patent reform. This is something pg has written about in the past [0] -- I
wouldn't be surprised to learn this issue is the driving reason for hosting
the dinner.

[0]
[http://paulgraham.com/patentpledge.html](http://paulgraham.com/patentpledge.html)

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sirkneeland
If the last Obama fundraiser visits are any guide, that'll do wonders for
traffic that day.

Making a note in the calendar to WFH on May 8...

~~~
toomuchtodo
Whenever he visits Chicago, my 45-60 minute commute goes to 2+ hours (escorted
motorcade from ORD to downtown with traffic blocked from on-ramps on the
Kennedy/I90). Work from home if you can.

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daniel-cussen
Who is he fundraising for? The Democratic Party in general?

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dang
This is a factual, neutral question. It doesn't deserve downvoting.

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pekk
If there's anything we need more of on HN, it's partisan bickering.

This whole story is worse than useless

~~~
dang
But daniel-cussen's question wasn't that at all.

You can flag a story as off-topic if you feel strongly that nothing like it
should be on HN.

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nirkalimi
Make sure to not schedule any meetings in mountain view on that day.

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EGreg
What can be done that's uniquely YC to welcome him as he does fundraising?
Maybe speak about the JOBS act?

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WalterSear
Will someone _please_ ask him about the Princeton "The US is an Oligarchy"
study and get his response on tape? Preferably while surrounded by Marissa and
any other techno oligarchs that are present.

I know I'm going to be disappointed with his response, but I still want to see
it.

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melvinmt
Who is going to host him? pg or sama?

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leccine
I hope he does not hit the same way he hits Yemen... :)

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pekk
Look, a story which involves Obama. Time for me to shill for literally any
political cause which occurs to me by pretending that I am concerned that we
aren't all rejecting him more violently. Maybe we can slip in a plug for the
Tea Party.

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stormqloud
Hopefully in the middle of the massive sucking up somebody will remind him
that he is massive disappointment.

Would be nice to see somebody in silicon valley stand up for principles
instead of just money and a popularity contest to meet "important people".

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danbmil99
Thoughts about the Keystone Pipeline? I know it's an election year, but
really, can't we have a bit of rational decision-making for once? Punting till
after the election just seems so very lame.

~~~
WalterSear
Seems par for his course.

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ceejayoz
With something other than a drone, one hopes.

~~~
WalterSear
With Marissa Mayer. Don't think this has anything to do with the little people
of the valley.

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chatman
Why is this news? Self promotion?

~~~
dang
Aw, come on. I'm sure I'm not the only person who went "holy shit" when I saw
this after 7 years on HN.

------
mscarborough
Ugh. A bunch of wealthy people talking about what they are "going to do", but
never doing anything tangible outside their narrow self-interest? All you have
to do is give politicians more money and go home to pat yourself on the back
for not giving it to the Republicans. Stop the presses, you're a real
progressive!

Marissa Mayer's "cozy" home could only accommodate 200 people for a
presidential visit to her "upscale Palo Alto home"?

Sounds awful.

~~~
ceejayoz
> Marissa Mayer's "cozy" home could only accommodate 200 people for a
> presidential visit to her "upscale Palo Alto home"?

I imagine she has a backyard.

~~~
bambam12897
I don't think you pay several thousand dollars to stand in a backyard...
Though I could be wrong.

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morgante
> I don't think you pay several thousand dollars to stand in a backyard...
> Though I could be wrong.

I've been to a number of high-class fundraisers/events held in back yards.
It's pretty standard (obviously everything is spruced up nicely) to hold nice
events in the yards of mansions.

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Vecrios
The comments in here are snarky hilarious. Love HN!

~~~
lclarkmichalek
Why be interesting when you can be acerbic

------
dmitrygr
Every time he comes to the area they put a huge [30-mile-radius, 18,000 foot
tall] no-fly zone for all but commercial air traffic around him. Why
inconvenience so many pilots? Is he that afraid of his people?

~~~
qq66
The presidency is by FAR the most dangerous job in America. Out of 44
presidents, eight (18%) have died in office, four by assassination. The next-
most dangerous job in America is logging, with a death rate of 128 per 100,000
workers per year, while the presidential assassination rate is 1,777 per
100,000 workers per year.

Given the frequency of presidential assassinations, and the extreme disruption
to all Americans' lives when they do occur, it's worth spending lots of
effort, money, and inconvenience to do our best to prevent them from
happening.

~~~
dingaling
> and the extreme disruption to all Americans' lives when they do occur,

I'm intrigued by this comment. Isn't it a case of swearing-in the VP and
carrying on?

Does it trigger a new election?

Isn't the regular disruption to daily life when POTUS is in town ( even me as
a UKian, when the office holder* comes here ) far, far greater than that?

* the power is in the office, not the person

~~~
gdubs
I think the disruption the parent is talking about is the emotional anguish
and existential soul-searching that occurs in empathetic individuals when
their leader is taken from them. No, I don't think the disruption caused by
traffic at all compares [1].

1: Los Angeles resident for ten years

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bambam12897
I can't be the only one that finds it pathetic that the president needs to
prostitute himself in such a way to make a few thousand dollars for a
political party.

You'd think they have more important things to do - given they're running a
nation and all..

Anecdote: Joe Biden visited our town recently. I'd bet the amount of money
spent on flying him out here far exceeds the amount he raised at the dinner.
There is a huge security apparatus that travels with them. Not just the
presidential/VP jets, but a few days before he arrived a plane carrying the
armored car(s), a whole ton of people in charge of security and god knows what
else.

