In the wake of his 17-year jail sentence, Joseph Bigg said: “Oh, I know he’ll pardon. I believe that with all my heart.”

  • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    The US seems to work on “I pinky swear not to abuse this” and then is shocked when that turns out poorly.

    • jcit878@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      sometimes when these systems are designed, the designers, simply didnt contemplate the crazy shit people will try that are within the systems legal bounds. for example no-one would have ever thought a prime minister would secretly swear himself into multiple minister portfolios even behind his own cabinets back, but thats exactly what the former PM of australia did (and now calls into question the things he signed off on in secret at the time).

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You need a balance. You can’t have a government that can’t respond/change and you can’t have a government where whomever won the last election is now dictator whose whim is law.

      A lot of this stuff was ripe for abuse since the beginning but it was only rarely abused so everyone just left it. Kinda how Vietnam war wasnt declared but went on for like a decade. The potential for that abuse of power was there since the founding days but wasn’t abused until much later.

      As I said the states seem like they are moving away from it being an unchecked power so maybe one day there will be a constitutional amendment.