dang has expressed this well before although I can't find the post. Essentially, remember that you can go to any forum on the internet. Here at HN, there is a certain style of discussion and expectation of behavior. By maintaining it here, we actually have more diversity of opinion and expression on the internet as a whole. Parallels to miscegenation, ironically.

dang has admitted he doesn't always get it perfect, and you may not agree with his decisions, but I think we can all understand the principles behind them, and people may not know how fortunate and rare that is.