The second principle of magic: things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed.
Are cans constitutionally iffy? Whenever, that is, we say that we can do something, or could do something, or could have done something, is there an if in the offing--suppressed, it may be, but due nevertheless to appear when we set out our sentence in full or when we give an explanation of its meaning?