You can just read the author bio at the bottom of the article. He’s a well known historian.

Sorry to bug you, but I would like to take this opportunity to ask for a minor tweak to the HN system.

If I submit a post, and the submit button takes me to that post already having been submitted... currently HN counts that as an auto-upvote.

However, as in this case, the post was already flagged by users. I have vouch permissions, but now that I have auto-upvoted it, I cannot vouch for it.

It would make a lot more sense to auto-vouch, not auto-upvote the post, if I have that permission.

Thanks, and sorry if I have misunderstood any of the magic. Always appreciate the site, and your guys' work.

I'm just some shit-talking forum schmoe, if you want to reach the admins just email hn@ycombinator.com.

Personally, and not related to your feature comment, I think this piece was correctly flagged and I flagged it myself. I'm a big fan of Perlstein's work but this piece is a fragment of some three part thing and in its current unfinished form is just the right combination of fluffy and spiky to produce mostly reflexive, grumpy comments - which you can see in thread.

Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought your bio's New Yorker mention was in regard to HN New Yorker piece. I have thought that for years now.

As far as your flag, fair enough.

You are right, it is about the HN New Yorker piece. I'm in there for the big conclusion as a shit-talking forum schmoe.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20527986

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/1154160128381181952/15...

This is truly effing hilarious. I hope that the alien archeologists who dig through all of this find the humor in our silliness.

aside: In my fuzzy memory, I had confused you for Scott, the other mod(?) mentioned in the New Yorker story, whose handle I never picked up.