Why not stop rendering HN pages in tables with inline formatting and render the page as a semantically structured document with a default style sheet. This will allow others to come along and restyle the site as they see fit. Don't like comment points? hidden. Post score is less than -4? hidden.
I personally don't understand the reasoning behind using tables as formatting and inline styles on a site whose content generally includes articles about web development.
The question about comment points is "do I think HN works better if comment points are hidden for all users", not "do I want to see comment points myself".
And to the second point, HN is PG's experiment with the programming language he's developing and the community for his company more than an example of modern web design. The point is probably that tables were quicker and easier.
Rendering a page as a semantically structured document won't remove the ability to globally disable a feature. (In fact, I would argue that it would make it easier.)
It's fair enough that pg does whatever he likes... no one can argue that point.
I personally don't understand the reasoning behind using tables as formatting and inline styles on a site whose content generally includes articles about web development.