Even if it is astroturfing (my hunch is no), it taps into a genuine, honest zeitgeist that gets plenty of air on HN. Google is practically a cliche for bad-faith acting these days, and the apostasy of abandoning its nobler founding sentiments (the "don't be evil" hypocrisy) rankles many. Knee-jerk it may be, but it's closer to war-mongering within a sympathetic circle than it is to smear-campaigning.