Heh.  This is the sort of nonsense I was talking about.

This is local control.  You, the node operator, have options.  Hardly a new thing.  Since day 1, all node operators have had the ability to fork for whatever reason and through whatever means they desire.

You have a warped view of "decentralized".  It doesn't mean that no one has any authority, it means that no one can stop you.

Who can stop you from turning checkpoints off?  No one.
Who can stop you from stripping them out of the source entirely and running your own pure node?  No one.