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Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov

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Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#531

Post by notdonspaulding »

r00fus wrote: post #406
johannes1234321 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding judges: How would you appoint them? Basically there are three options: - Have a public vote, direct legitimation (or via some extra electoral college or something) this means that judges have to be "popular" and run campaigns and question is, if that's really smart ... - Have the "juristical class" elect within, so judges from lower courts would lick somebody, or current judges elect additional ones. That w…

Lifetime appointments are the problem not the method of appointment.

Judges deciding cases based on what the law says, free from fear of political reprisal is the intended feature. Lifetime appointments get you that (or very nearly to it). If you know of a strictly better way to get the same feature, what is it?

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#532

Post by 1MachineElf »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #496
dgellow wrote: post #363

No Assange, no Snowden. What a fool I am, I seriously envisaged that could happen... Instead it’s just more and more corruption.

I just wonder why. It seemed like pardoning Assange and Snowden could win him a huuuge bonus to popularity among people all over the world. Perhaps that was considered "too much" and could probably imply worse consequences so he hesitated to.

He was investigated for 2 years and is still accused to this day for Russian collusion. Pardoning either Snowden, who is in Russia right now, and Assange, who is accused of being a co-conspirator in the Russia collusion accusations, would be like throwing gasoline on that fire. I don't see how he could do it without alienating most of his establishment support, which he still needs after leaving office.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#533

Post by csharptwdec19 »

mwigdahl wrote: post #408
dkarl wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people who created the system and decided on lifetime terms for Supreme Court judges had a lot of enthusiasm for democracy, but they could see it had flaws, and they wanted the judiciary to be much less sensitive to the mood of the public than the rest of the system. As disappointed (and angry) as I am to see the Republicans steal the Merrick Garland appointment and then replace RBG with someone who has flaunted…

While I agree with virtually everything you're saying here, I'm not convinced the Founders had a high opinion of democracy itself. The Federalist Papers are full of warnings about mob rule, and the goal of the Constitutional framework was explicitly to insulate government from populist and direct democratic influence, while setting up structures that were supposed to mold the government into the form of an aristocrac…

> The USA today very much resembles an oligarchy (class-based rule by the rich) being pushed rapidly into social media-driven democratic mob rule.

Agree with the first part, disagree with the second part.

It's going to remain an oligarchy, but the circus of 'mob rule' will be utilized to make sure the oligarchs remain in power.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#534

Post by Bakary »

leto_ii wrote: post #436
Bakary wrote: post #382

I have to say there is quite a lot to learn from Levandowski.[0] I am not a fan of corruption but it's undeniable that he played whatever cards he had in life and played them hard. He'll probably be a shadowy billionaire quite soon. One quote stood out to me at the very end of the article: “The only thing that matters is the future,” he told me after the civil trial was settled. “I don’t even know why we study histor…

> "But what already happened doesn’t really matter. You don’t need to know that history to build on what they made. In technology, all that matters is tomorrow." To me this is a mind-numbing display of ignorance. Once you understand that you're not the first human being to ever have existed and that the people that came before you (even way before) are not dumber than you, you will immediately realize that there's a…

I've updated my post to clarify my argument as it missed some important details. To me the value of history is trivial to state, but it's the relationship people have with it that can become a problem. There's a lot to learn indeed, but it is a mental trap as well that causes people to overestimate their own importance.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#537

Post by klmadfejno »

vmception wrote: post #437
dgellow wrote: post #363

No Assange, no Snowden. What a fool I am, I seriously envisaged that could happen... Instead it’s just more and more corruption.

Pay attention to that list, each pardon has a list of people who supported each pardon. Nobody from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU is on that list. We are wasting our time and energy caring about either of those organizations. Let them stick to filing Amicus Briefs in courts, but they clearly have no pull or influence or backchannel despite our tech scene thinking they do.

I don't think I can think of any non-profit more deserving of donations than the ACLU in my opinion.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#538

Post by deeeeplearning »

Bakary wrote: post #382

I have to say there is quite a lot to learn from Levandowski.[0] I am not a fan of corruption but it's undeniable that he played whatever cards he had in life and played them hard. He'll probably be a shadowy billionaire quite soon. One quote stood out to me at the very end of the article: “The only thing that matters is the future,” he told me after the civil trial was settled. “I don’t even know why we study histor…

>I am not a fan of corruption but it's undeniable that he played whatever cards he had in life and played them hard.

His parents were a Diplomat and a Businessman and he graduated with 2 engineering degrees from Berkeley. So we should be lauding him for winning a game of poker when he was dealt a Full House? Lol

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#539

Post by fny »

throwaway876765 wrote: post #481
zzleeper wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how all the Trump supporters on HNs (maybe 30% or so of commenters, no idea about lurkers) are reacting to this. Levadowski pardon, the spy, the swamp, etc.

I voted for Trump because his policies more closely align with my beliefs than any other candidate on my ballot. I am very disappointed in his response to the election results after it was clear there wasn't proof of enough fraud to change the result, and I'm very disappointed in the pardons.

Please stop down voting posts like this. If we want HN to remain a welcome space for civil discourse for everyone, we need to respect other people's candid statements.

Remember, Trump won 47% of the popular vote which likely includes a large number of HNers. We should not alienate those people.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#540

Post by ceejayoz »

alsetmusic wrote: post #517
SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people on the right and the left are perhaps skipping over just how much McConnell was manipulating the admin not just over the last four years, but esp since Jan 6th. I am fairly confident that even if Trump had specifically wanted to pardon Assange or Snowden he could not have. Edit: lol, this will have been the most successful lie by the media and GOP... getting people to believe the GOP and Trump were fri…

What evidence is there of McConnel having access to Trump after Jan 6? I have the impression that their relationship cooled. McConnel stated that Tump “provoked” the mob on the senate floor. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/politics/mitch-mcconnell-riot...

"Tell him we'll convict in the Senate if he fucks around" is access, even if it's not direct face-to-face.
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