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Comment by perihelions | Hacker News Reader

>"We take the internet, and our freedoms, mostly for granted. It's a good thing to remind ourselves that they are not."

The office of the US President has unchecked authority to shut down the US internet [0]. That that's never happened yet reflects on the discretion of individuals in office (and general historical luck), not on any legal or institutional safeguards.

[0] https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/22/representatives-propose-bi... ("Representatives propose bill limiting presidential internet ‘kill switch’")

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> That that's never happened yet reflects on the discretion of individuals in office (and general historical luck), not on any legal or institutional safeguards.

I'd say it's a stronger reflection on US culture than on individual presidents. Our legal system exists to manage the details of dispute resolution; it doesn't (and shouldn't!) determine our values.

>Our legal system exists to manage the details of dispute resolution; it doesn't (and shouldn't!) determine our values.

Then what's the deal with morality based laws and policing

Laws are tools we can use to express our values, but the influence should be one-way.

If its one way, then wouldn't that make the law pointless? Which way should it be going?

Law is meant for enforcing a behavior or change in behavior, by its nature its two ways. Law is not artistic expression

Doesn't the US president also have unchecked authority to nuke any place on earth?

That would cause retaliation. Murdering civilians with drones on the other hand is quite popular and widely tolerated (so far).

No. There are other countries with nukes to keep him in check (and vice versa, of course).

In theory he can nuke whoever he wants by issuing an order. If the president decides to say nuke Toronto on a whim, then he can.

There are of course consequences in that the US may then get nuked in retaliation, but that doesn't stop the actual nuking.

Whether in reality, the orders will be followed (initially the secretary of defense, whose job is to authenticate the order came from the president, and then the joint chiefs they orders are relayed to), or if they would be delayed enough to invoke the 25th amendment and remove the president from power, is a matter of speculation.

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