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We're going to have to switch the title to 6K here right away.
Looks like this post is being flagged. 55 points in 2 hours and it sits near the bottom.

I think this is a misuse of the flag button given HN guidelines. I don't see how this post is spam or offtopic: "If you think something is spam or offtopic, flag it by going to its page and clicking on the "flag" link."

I'm seeing this more and more on HN. The flag button is being used to "downvote" posts that present a point of view that some disagree with. I find this trend disturbing.

I think users have taken to flagging in response to users automatically up-voting stories related to the NSA scandal, and thus filling the front page with useless duplicate stories. So, now, HN has two problems.
I often flag duplicate posts so they'll drop out in favor of the first post. I did not flag this one but it is a duplicate post. The WH petition to pardon him has been posted before very recently. Adding a garbage url parameter to the end may fool HN de-duping algorithm but not humans. Same with changing the title.
Take care to notice the "if you think" part of that clause.
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Thank goodness. They'll totally pardon him in another 4000 signatures...

Listen up fools. They gonna keeeeel him. First, they gonna stomp him. Then, they gonna tattoo him. THEN they'll hang him. THEN they'll kill him.

Until people get off their fat, bearded asses that boy and his efforts are going to fade like the shine on a bitcoin. Want to free/pardon Snowden? Write a responsive, flat UI app that shows a millsecond count of the number of seconds from his arrest until they kill him with low contrast tweets lamenting the injustice of it all scrolling in the background... #freelowden #kony-- I mean #truePatriot

The digital outpouring will almost be visceral - almost. Maybe it can be as big a story as sexism at python conferences... for its cycle.

If you aren't on TV getting beaten or worse by the authorities, you aren't making a difference for the kid. It's not like the NSA is ramping up to sell a new console. They will be funded no matter who is elected. Their programs will continue unabated. You are not and will never be free because you aren't willing to trade your comfort for Snowed-in.

Show your commitment and RT! Now go get drunk and have fun in America tonight. Code your asses off. Enjoy your freedoms you slags. Someone's gonna die and be forgotten soon. We should do a Kickstarter.

It's not a petition to pardon Snowden, it's a petition for a White House response on the topic of pardoning Snowden.

Key difference.

Petitions is a perfect outlet to convey to crowds an illusion of having control over [insert your problem here]. Lack of control is the first cause of rebellion. Rebellions are expensive to contain. Petitions are the vehicle to detour crowd's attention away from the real cause of [insert your problem here].
And now NSA has 100k targets.
False. The NSA already has 7 billion targets.
3k signatures left (presumably this means 4k signatures happened in the past 5 hours).