It’s interesting. The words are simple but the concepts are not simple. In more mechanistic terms, I might write “accepting a pardon is an acknowledgment that an accusatory verdict is what one will have to deal with”.
The complex notion of admission of guilt all turns on the question of legitimacy. Watching things like the Russian legal system, I struggle to adopt a concept system that seems appropriate. On one hand, it is all-circus, as the unilaterally powerful do what suits them to the powerless. On the other hand, for some reason, there is some performance of law, for the intended effect of that performance on somebody. On whom? Or for whom? And what effect, since everybody already understands it’s all-circus? Masha Gessen had a short article some months ago, in which she said that Russian law had been quite matter-of-factly written to provide a legal basis for hostage-taking. The thing that loses me is: when legitimacy is clearly long-gone, and it is just the powerful doing what others can’t stop them from doing, what is the motive for these other performances? I guess if I understood that, I would understand why professional wrestling is entertaining to some people, rather than just tedious. Eric > On Jan 20, 2025, at 2:37 PM, Prof David West <profw...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > > Re preemptive pardons: > > It is unclear if one must accept a pardon for it to be valid (Supreme Court > decision on a commuted sentence); but it is clear (earlier Supreme Court > decision) that accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt. > > A number of 1-6 convicts plan to refuse pardons and fight the convicions via > the normal appellate process precisely for this reason. > > davew > > > On Mon, Jan 20, 2025, at 1:20 PM, steve smith wrote: >> Glen sed: >>> Large deposits of hydrocarbons: Yeah, it kinda looks like a waste to >>> hoard all that stuff. But if you think of it like a battery (or a >>> stock in stocks and flows), some tasks do seem to require a large >>> battery, maybe to get over some hump with a steep energy curve. The >>> question is who uses it and for what? If we take Pieter's optimism >>> seriously, maybe our blowing through the fossil fuel battery does end >>> up getting us over some hump. E.g. we resolve the Meaning Crisis and >>> come to some high order conception of computation? Or a metaphysics >>> that closely matches physics? Or if you believe in a life/biosphere >>> diaspora to the solar system. But it's touch and go whether we'll >>> collapse (gracefully or catastrophically) or explode into some new >>> domain that was only reachable by draining the battery. >> >> I think it was a Neal Stephenson fiction which suggested that the Suez >> Canal was built by steam-shovels (drag-link earth movers?) fueled by a >> huge supply of mummies wrapped in cloth and soaked in crude oil for >> preservation? Not as dense as coal, but convenient? Fits right into >> my sparring with DaveW on morbid ways to dispose of human remains? >> >> I don't know what the Suez Canal provides lowered friction for, but I'm >> guessing it is significantly moving fossil-fuels (mostly liquid? mostly >> refined?)... >> >>> >>> I was avoiding the news for a month or so after the election. But now >>> my attitude is that we need a clown like Trump to lay bare our >>> oligarchy. The oligarchy thrives under Bidens and Obamas just as much >>> as under Putin or Trump. It's just that the pig has some lipstick on >>> it under the Obamas and Bidens. It think we'll begin to suss out some >>> of the differences between the US and, say, Russia or Hungary as we >>> slide a few notches in that direction. The trick is to be >>> disinterested without becoming disaffected. >> >> See my maunderings on bistable, metastable, fascism, etc. Are fascism >> and oligarchy distinct lobes in a metastable system? I do think that >> when Musk threw down for Trump and the other near-Trillionaire tech-bros >> joined him, our trajectory went more toward the oligarchic style of fascism? >> >> I'm not watching the inaugural events but did enjoy being "present" to >> hear of the Biden pre-emptive pardons... I'm guessing there are more >> than a few other "easter eggs" distributed throughout the day? Any >> chance someone will give Trump a tour of the Capitol with special >> attention to the places his "patriots" smeared feces? Probably not. >> >> Interesting times... >> >> >> >> >> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. >> / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom >> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam >> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >> archives: 5/2017 thru present >> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... > --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fbit.ly%2fvirtualfriam&c=E,1,S8yKOCzeXTYzcaT4Ohl38bOT1S88niNng8RNpUoOdsQk3Pk3mbeN3sKTb-q1jY6IKPsyQ2vsmbOoQs_Hd7Z1YQvq0KP7-PyiXNnioZuwtrmfsKIOMtxLnA,,&typo=1 > to (un)subscribe > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fredfish.com%2fmailman%2flistinfo%2ffriam_redfish.com&c=E,1,xIlLOBhNaCaXwTZ-fH8KKHK_SHX3-px8Hvw42XRwxwyduW4pFfDYFZ3vJGFUcgVPigJd4K4vbD1q9K7YNmzqKabWy2t_4XeGBhiX9BoCrWKXBcDDnnY,&typo=1 > FRIAM-COMIC > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2ffriam-comic.blogspot.com%2f&c=E,1,YWO1m19gInPSI1Ewnp3NavKI_laqIlQM4zS9zhqxrjGu6fmgKY_oqAQJsjRTLppQgEW3f23PvqgsS-c1TkfjPsLqwVnrjo6Mb4dhnwEayg,,&typo=1 > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fredfish.com%2fpipermail%2ffriam_redfish.com%2f&c=E,1,J8SQenXmMUMpnbednseMyuqOt3E8g4ix1ktQBhEH8FvmDonuUx3UY_llSp98neNIk3CzyG7B25iLqj7Gja7wxFWOJJst4SFkLKpYbEumjq5csjMr2RNk&typo=1 > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. 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