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Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

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Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#941

Post by tb_technical »

deaux wrote: post #886
NaomiLehman wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't believe the dominant country is running this timeline.

It already no longer is.

Depends on your metrics of "dominant country" tbh. In terms of GDP the US is leading. In terms of purchasing power parity China is leading.

In terms of military prowess the US is superior, if you believe their advertised weapons capabilities. That being said, if we believed what countries said about their own weapons, then Russia has a number of world ending superweapons - clearly they're the leader here /s.

If you believe total number of naval vessels determines might, the Chinese Navy's numbers make them superior. If you believe damage control and logistics determine naval might, the USA has one of the most sophisticated support fleets in the world with world class damage control (combat survivability - but this is a meme).

If you believe technological development makes a nation superior, the USA maintains it's edge with trade allies South Korea and Taiwan.

If you believe total production is what makes a nation superior... China.

Look, you get what I'm saying. The dollar is still the primary reserve currency (for now) and the US still ensures safety in international waters while projecting power regularly.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#942

Post by Arubis »

mindslight wrote: post #757
Arubis wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect Trump will leave office in a box, not on his feet. Such a civil claim would then have to be against his estate, which probably complicates things.

It would be against whomever is in possession of the stolen wealth, which will not likely be his estate. And yes, this should be a priority of any platform for rebuilding our country. Justice needs to be served. And by the time we're finally rid of these America-last fuckers, people still supporting the Trumps are going to be as rare as people still supporting the Iraq War.

I'd love to believe you--yet folks support the cult of personality and forget the policies. It's not hard to find people that'll say Nixon should've stayed in office, and Reagan might as well have his own religion.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#943

Post by HaZeust »

sojournerc wrote: post #869
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #753

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"boooooth siiiiiiides" screamed the reactionary centrist.

Biden pardoned his son for clear crimes, yes!

Trump did it first with Kushner.

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-don...

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#944

Post by HaZeust »

torgoguys wrote: post #605
ajross wrote: post #584

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> these past few administrations I remain amazed at how, again and again, no matter how specific and unique an abuse by the Trump administration is, it is always, invariably, Really Joe Biden's Fault. Like, the frame has been adopted by the MAGA base, but also the cranky left. The media does it too. Here on HN bothsidesism is a shibboleth that denotes "I'm a Serious Commenter and not a Partisan Hack". But it leads to…

>But it leads to ridiculous whoppers like this, and ends up in practice excusing what amounts to the most corrupt regime in this country in over a century, if not ever. Amen. Preach it, brother! >No, this is just bad, on its own, absent any discussion about what someone else did. There was no equivalent pardon of a perpetrator of an impactful crime in a previous administration I can think of. I'm genuinely curious wh…

I was less mad that Biden pardoned his family, when Trump did it first for Kushner in Dec. 2020. The precedent was already there.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#945

Post by HaZeust »

tshaddox wrote: post #730
munk-a wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a congressional pardon power to allow national leniency on previously accepted sentences that are now viewed as unjust might be worth holding onto. It being such a casual presidential power has made it ripe for corruption for a long time but I would weigh that with civil rights era pardons for sham trials - I think we do still need a national sanity check relief valve for local injustices. And the dysfunction…

> I think a congressional pardon power to allow national leniency on previously accepted sentences that are now viewed as unjust might be worth holding onto. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. For the branch of government in charge of making and changing laws.

It sounds more fit for the branch of government in charge of enforcing the laws. Specifically, with laws that are made by the branches responsible for making/changing them, which would be ridiculous on their face.

If the branch responsible for making and changing laws was also responsible for the reversion of enforcing those laws - effectively what a pardon is - then there's absolutely no check on gratuitous law being passed.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#946

Post by tb_technical »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #885
ethbr1 wrote: post #842

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give it a few years. The US ceding its dominance by trying to re-follow its 1970s/80s playbook (now with less Volcker!) in a 2024+ world will go down as one of the biggest geopolitical own-goals of all time.

If trump were willing to call for extended high interest rates, we’d be in a far better spot. Trump trying to bring them down rapidly is perk of mt stupid especially during rampant speculation in GenAI.

I don't understand, can you explain why high interest rates will help economic development in the USA in light of its staggering held debt?

I'm not an economist, I don't understand how this works.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#947

Post by isaacremuant »

ajdlinux wrote: post #674

It's bizarre to me, an Australian, how the pardon power is used in the US. Our federal, state and territory executive governments all have a pardon power, inherited from English law, that is, formally, unlimited (like the US federally and indeed it's less restrictive than many US states for state crimes). It is a power used very sparingly, even though legally it is unlimited - the state of New South Wales is, as far…

As an Australian? Dude, your country is the most authoritarian of the current English speaking "western" countries.

The parliamentary countries like Australia just have made it so that they forever encroach in civil liberties and hide it all in bureocracy and pretend things work as intended and that democracy is working but when it was covid time they utterly crashed dissent. Same with most cases of effective opposition to power. The first in line to try and control the internet, speech and more from its citizens who don't even notice it that much because it's so ingrained in the culture of self censorship.

Having said that, yes, the pardon powers are ridiculous and they're being used more and more in ridiculous ways like this one from trump or the "pardon for everything just in case, for future and past" from Biden.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#948

Post by danans »

hrimfaxi wrote: post #918
danans wrote: post #709

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair point, but either way we're not enforcing that law anymore.

It's clear you're not that familiar with the law if you got a fundamental aspect about it incorrect, so why is this bad on its face? Ending enforcement of laws is not de facto bad. In this case, FCPA hinders American companies from competing in foreign locales where greasing the local wheels is a requirement for getting things done. Like it or not, this is the world we live in but an argument could be made that dropp…

Then Congress should rescind the law. Otherwise laws don't mean anything.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#949

Post by lsaferite »

dimal wrote: post #907
kelnos wrote: post #723

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For better or worse, the US constitution does not have provisions or a process for dissolving itself and developing a new constitution. The closest thing we have is the amendment process. In theory we could use that to rewrite the entirety of the constitution[0], but good luck getting the required votes in place on any possible replacement. The bar is pretty high: amendments need to be proposed by either a vote of 2/…

We don’t need a full rewrite. Despite the divisions in this country, there are a couple things that most people agree on: - Corporate money should be out of politics - Gerrymandering should be stopped If we had amendments for these two things, it could change A LOT. Congress might actually be able to function. Corporate corruption could be prosecuted. We might be possible to put meaningful limits on corporate power.…

Can we throw some form of ranked choice voting in there as well? As someone unhappy with either major party, I want the ability to vote what I actually want with a backup vote indicating what I absolutely don't want under any circumstances.

Re: Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

#950

Post by krainboltgreene »

lukevp wrote: post #549
krainboltgreene wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rule of law? Anymore? No president has ever been punished in any meaningful capacity in our entire history. Washington used loopholes to avoid setting his slaves free[1] for christ sake. [1]: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/george-washington-...

What about Nixon’s impeachment and resignation? What about Trump being a convicted felon 5 ways to Sunday (yes they overturned this since he won again, but I doubt it would have gone this direction if he’d lost.)

1. There is no downside to impeachment. It has the same impact as a strongly worded letter. 2. Nixon decided to resign and not the alternative for doing something so insane: A restoration of damages. 3. Like I said, they were overturned. I mean even the NYT was trying to figure out the result: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/nyregion/trump-trial-hush...

The reality is the system will bend itself to avoid the problem, because it's been designed to avoid that problem.

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