Since you seem to be relatively new to HN (based off when your account was created), when commenting, it is common practice to give examples/links/proof, ie. in this case; why his essay is embarrassing. The reason, is that this could lead to an insightful discussion, and offer paths to improvement. If you give evidence then you will likely not get downvoted even for saying something controversial [1]. After looking through your comment history, this style of commenting seems to ring true, in that when you provide links and proof, you have an improved comment score.
[1] Although, you are talking about PG (who is the founder of this forum), so you might get downvoted just for the hell of it ;)
[1] Although, you are talking about PG (who is the founder of this forum), so you might get downvoted just for the hell of it ;)