Anthony Levandowski Pardoned • Hacker News Board

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#961

Post by itsoktocry » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 3:35 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #658

itsoktocry wrote: post #565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the only bankers wiling to finance him will the the predatory ones, who will all extract every penny left then leave him with nothing. Oh boy, are you going to be in for a nasty surprise. Trump is going to get more powerful after this mess, but it will likely tear the GOP apart. And don't kid yourself that the Democrats love the idea of having him as an enemy if he ever runs again. Most of what you're watching…

He seems, as an outsider (UK), to be fomenting racial divisions - around the World - just so he can play at being a big cheese. His motivation appears to be purely money, but he and those who voted for him don't appear to have a problem with the cost of that being democracy and racial unity. If he stays out of prison then the message is 'USA's political establishment endorses white power, and oligarchy' and given man…

>He seems, as an outsider (UK), to be fomenting racial divisions - around the World - just so he can play at being a big cheese. His motivation appears to be purely money, but he and those who voted for him don't appear to have a problem with the cost of that being democracy and racial unity.

No offense, but this seems like a narrative straight out of the left-wing playbook. Fomenting racial divisions around the World? Seems a bit of a stretch.

As far as the motivation being "purely money", I'd say his presidency cost him a bunch of scrilla, though I bet he earns it back in the long run. Is that any different than, say, Bill Clinton, who has made millions of dollars doing speeches around the world after his presidency? I'm not sure.

>USA seemingly can't be trusted to keep even a semblance of Rule of Law

Turn off the TV. The US is still great. Again, what you are watching is mostly theatre.

>If he stays out of prison then the message is 'USA's political establishment endorses white power, and oligarchy'

Wait, you say the US can't be trusted to keep the law, but then say that Trump needs to go to prison? For what crime?

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#962

Post by itsoktocry » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 3:40 PM UTC

mywittyname wrote: post #895

itsoktocry wrote: post #565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the only bankers wiling to finance him will the the predatory ones, who will all extract every penny left then leave him with nothing. Oh boy, are you going to be in for a nasty surprise. Trump is going to get more powerful after this mess, but it will likely tear the GOP apart. And don't kid yourself that the Democrats love the idea of having him as an enemy if he ever runs again. Most of what you're watching…

Honestly, I get the impression that he's easily outflanked by smart people. And that something about his personality drives people to take advantage of him. That impression comes from his apparent business incompetence. He is capable of screwing up "sure things" such as casinos and hotels. Best I can tell, he ends up getting a raw deal, then proceeds to make the shit roll down hill by screwing over people down stream…

>And I think a lot of people idolize him because he embodies what they think of when they think of a smart, successful business person. But I think real smart, successful business people spend two minutes with him, and paint him as a rube.

I agree, but, uh, everyone with half-a-brain knew that this about Donald Trump long before he was elected president. He's been playing this character for 40 years.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#963

Post by VikingCoder » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

paul7986 wrote: post #949

VikingCoder wrote: post #943

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you're here defending Levandowski's actions. Because you did. Even though they're indefensible.

They both are no good and Google blasted him legally and his name in the media yet Google does the same thing this guy did and gets away with it? The pardon is their karma.

Just out of curiosity, did you actually read the story about how Google didn't "get away with it"? The patent wasn't issued.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#964

Post by gfxgirl » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 4:20 PM UTC

dcolkitt wrote: post #686

gfxgirl wrote: post #676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

plenty of people don't choose or choose under a kind of duress (religious guilt)

Sure, that's true. And in past times that was a stronger critique. But in the modern Western world, this only applies to a tiny fraction of parents. The vast majority of parents today willingly chose to become parents.

No idea if it's true but first google git says 45% of pregnancies in the USA are un-intended. Of course it's still a choice to birth the child and become a parent

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#965

Post by rendall » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

kazinator wrote: post #579

rendall wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> white supremacists also fell for the joke. Once they started genuinely using the gesture it did become a symbol of hate. [citation needed]

White supremacists didn't "fall" for the joke; they were obviously instantly infatuated with the idea of hijacking a thoroughly familiar, positive hand gesture for their purposes.

Let's talk about what's really going on here. Certain factions of society would like to present white supremacy as more prevalent than it is, and these include white supremacists, but upsettingly, also include organizations and political stances that "fight" white supremacy. These "opposing" factions would love to hijack the OK symbol as a white supremacist symbol, so that each can claim that white supremacy has more support than it does. Each of these factions will feel satisfaction of fighting their fight, as they point at pictures of West Point cadets, Mexican truck drivers, Japanese tourists, college kids having fun and say "See! White supremacy is everywhere!"

I have contempt for all of these people, who insist that "OK" is white supremacist. They promote white supremacy, irrespective of whether they are for it or against it. They turn a stupid joke into a battle cry, because they want to. This is despicable. Reprehensible. Awful.

If you actively insist that OK is white supremacist, you are a bad person and I have zero respect for you. Noam Chomsky talks about how the most violent of two opposing factions gain prestige within their factions by escalating drama and violence with the other faction. That's you. You "fight" white supremacy by promoting it. Contemptible.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#966

Post by IIAOPSW » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 4:36 PM UTC

mcguire wrote: post #888

IIAOPSW wrote: post #863

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sortition

From what pool? In Texas, Justices of the Peace have no particular requirements, and are (IIRC) the equivalent of small-claims courts in the rural counties, but have had some special powers, like acting as coroner in counties without access to one. I had a government teacher with a long list of amusing anecdotes---like the JP that determined that a body with like, 27 bullet wounds had committed suicide. Judge Roy Bea…

From the pool of people with the qualifications requisite to practice law plus a few years of experience and good standing with the bar association.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#967

Post by NelsonMinar » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 4:37 PM UTC

coryfklein wrote: post #766

NelsonMinar wrote: post #519

It's weird to see the Republican party embrace intellectual property theft. Levandowski stole from his employer and his colleagues at Google to enrich himself at Uber. Why would that possibly be worth a pardon?

Donald Trump is not the Republican party.

Oh keep telling yourself that. As President he was the literal head of the Republican party. Also as we've seen, the party is so afraid of him they can't even denounce a literal violent insurrection he started. Trump and the GOP are one, and it's not good for the GOP or America.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#968

Post by NelsonMinar » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

sn_master wrote: post #587

NelsonMinar wrote: post #519

It's weird to see the Republican party embrace intellectual property theft. Levandowski stole from his employer and his colleagues at Google to enrich himself at Uber. Why would that possibly be worth a pardon?

I can say similar things about many of the Obama pardons, but I'll get downvoted into oblivion if I do so. Pardon is by definition an admission of guilt, and Levandowski has already paid a steep price for what he did.

Literal whataboutism. Be glad to hear which Obama pardons you don't like, I might even agree. The Clinton pardons, particularly Marc Rich, are a better source for evidence of corruption from a Democratic president though.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#969

Post by mcguire » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 5:13 PM UTC

IIAOPSW wrote: post #966

mcguire wrote: post #888

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what pool? In Texas, Justices of the Peace have no particular requirements, and are (IIRC) the equivalent of small-claims courts in the rural counties, but have had some special powers, like acting as coroner in counties without access to one. I had a government teacher with a long list of amusing anecdotes---like the JP that determined that a body with like, 27 bullet wounds had committed suicide. Judge Roy Bea…

From the pool of people with the qualifications requisite to practice law plus a few years of experience and good standing with the bar association.

Well, it couldn't be worse than Roy Moore.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#970

Post by PoignardAzur » Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 5:55 PM UTC

randylahey wrote: post #592

fny wrote: post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

People who hold reprehensible ideas or support those who do, should be held to task, no matter how many of them there are.

This is ridiculous. How is graying out a comment on Hacker News "holding to task" anyone?

The only result this achieves is telling these people with "reprehensible ideas" that they need to take their discussion elsewhere and avoid any communication with people who don't share their opinion.

This is the opposite of productive.