Anthony Levandowski Pardoned • Hacker News Board

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#141

Post by GordonS » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 9:47 AM UTC

wrnr wrote: post #36

Why so negative, a little bit of clemency even if people are guilty will do a great deal to help heal the nation. This list reads like an indictment of the justice system, life sentences for non violent drug offences, yikes. I'm glad for everyone, welcome back.

I support a lot of these pardons for non-violent drug offences, mainly because the US justice system issues such needlessly long sentences, and the US penal system is so harsh.

But AFAIK, Trump hasn't done anything to address these while in power, and given his usual rhetoric about "law and order" targeted at a very conservative audience, the cynic in me can't help but wonder if a lot of these pardons are to detract from or excuse the pardons for cronies.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#142

Post by Udik » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 9:49 AM UTC

pygy_ wrote: post #120

Udik wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My issue with the term "dog whistle" is that it's being abused to attribute nefarious meaning to just anything you want irrespectively of the actual content of the message- by definition the "dog whistle" is something that the message doesn't obviously contain. It's a free interpretation license card. I think out-of-context interpretation is the major issue of our times: we got used to the idea that it's perfectly fi…

Getting photographed smiling next to two notorious white supremacists is already fishy. The picture was taken after the sign became a notorious rallying sign for racists. Do you really think that Luckey is aloof to the point of not not knowing what he's doing there? If you borrowed Occam's razor, you may need to sharpen it a bit before using it.

The "ok sign is a white power symbol" thing started as trolling on 4chan. It doesn't mean anything apart from being useful to infuriate other people. You're being trolled.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#143

Post by bidirectional » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 9:50 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #62

amatecha wrote: post #59

Issued on January 20th, 2021.... Didn't Joe Biden just win the popular vote with 51.3% on... November 3rd, 2020, over two months ago? Why does the US political system wait months to enact the peoples' will? I don't understand this at all.

Is this a serious question? This is what most systems do right? Hold an election and then the newly elected sit at some later point in time. Or are you suggesting the second we know the winner the previous president should be booted out?

In the UK, a new Prime Minister will generally be in power within 24 hours of the election ending. Three months seems insane in contrast.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#144

Post by pygy_ » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 9:54 AM UTC

Udik wrote: post #142

pygy_ wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting photographed smiling next to two notorious white supremacists is already fishy. The picture was taken after the sign became a notorious rallying sign for racists. Do you really think that Luckey is aloof to the point of not not knowing what he's doing there? If you borrowed Occam's razor, you may need to sharpen it a bit before using it.

The "ok sign is a white power symbol" thing started as trolling on 4chan. It doesn't mean anything apart from being useful to infuriate other people. You're being trolled.

Notwithstanding its origins, it was subsequently adopted by racists as a rallying sign. Context matters.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#145

Post by KSteffensen » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 10:00 AM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #83

renewiltord wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A. We did not know anything on Nov 3 B. There is a process in the US that involves state electors having their votes counted and certified and the new government installed C. No country in the world instantly swaps governments at election result time.

It's pretty swift in a number of European countries, days not weeks. Fact is the civil service is not being swapped, just the political leaders of the departments. Perfectly fine to just swap ministers in a matter of days.

Assuming the newly elected parliament can agree on a government. This is not always so easy, Belgium are famous for not having a government for years at a time.

This is not a 'Europe is different from USA' thing. Each country/system is peculiar in its own way.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#146

Post by pygy_ » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 10:09 AM UTC

limaoscarjuliet wrote: post #125

apexalpha wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really think people now use "OK", a sign used for years, to signal they are racist? I think you're the butt of the joke here...

A SCUBA diver here. Apparently we are all racist while submerged.

When you read "inflammable", you can often, from the context, determine whether it means flammable or not. Sometimes you can't.

The same applies to the OK sign.

Flashing it surrounded by notorious racists after the 4chan hoax leaves no doubt about the intended meaning.

Also, given that's it's now been coopted by nazis, you may want to be careful when flashing it if you want to avoid embarrassing ambiguities, yes. It was probably a fad in these circles, not sure it is still used, but still.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#147

Post by refurb » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 10:25 AM UTC

bidirectional wrote: post #143

refurb wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a serious question? This is what most systems do right? Hold an election and then the newly elected sit at some later point in time. Or are you suggesting the second we know the winner the previous president should be booted out?

In the UK, a new Prime Minister will generally be in power within 24 hours of the election ending. Three months seems insane in contrast.

Huh, as a Canadian it's usually a month or more. Which is odd considering we adopted your system.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#148

Post by LatteLazy » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 10:27 AM UTC

contemporary343 wrote: post #10

This is all so hilariously corrupt. I'm not sure I can even muster anger for this, just laughter. (I'll reserve the anger for the pandemic and this administration's callous, frankly criminal handling of it). (So Levandowski and Jared are going to launch a venture fund soon, right?)

My second thought on this was "I wonder how much he paid".

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#149

Post by mayankkaizen » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 11:07 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #132

> Anthony Levandowski, 40, was sentenced in August to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in March. He was not in custody but a judge had said he could enter custody once the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. That's the part that caught my eye, not Trump's pardon. So that's how rich people are treated by the court system...

Legal system for rich and justice system for poor.

Re: Anthony Levandowski Pardoned

#150

Post by cycomanic » Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 11:07 AM UTC

wrnr wrote: post #65

avmich wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> will do a great deal to help heal the nation A counterpoint: Abraham Lincoln had some strong opinions about the events like on Jan. 6, and his opinions were not guided by an idea of "unity." Healing may involve some unpleasant medicine.

I'm guided by the principle for universal love and forgiveness, it is time to leave the past behind, who cares what a dead person would thinks about something he never experienced. You are afraid and grasping at an illusion to keep up the self image of the victim, a powerful image yes, wash the hate from your heart, open the chacra of fear to drain the pool of resentment and let the light enter your soul. I will pray…

Healing can not happen without some form of holding the perpetrators to account. Otherwise, society has not shown that the behaviour was unacceptable and the perpetrators are not seeing any consequences for their actions. To give an example, hardly anyone would be able to forgive someone that has e.g. stolen your car, and continues to drive by your house with it and showing no remorse for taking it.

It's also ironic that the demands for unity and forgiveness are now coming from a side who has made law&order a central part of their platform, in a country with one of the most broken judicial systems and one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.