It would seem as though partisan politics has won the day in the United States. In such an important race that is so close as this one I find it difficult to believe that the Supreme Court would not encourage the highest degree of accuracy in the tallying of votes. With the margin of victory far outweighed by the margin of error the scientist in me screams in outrage that the highest judicial body in our land instead opted for the easy way out.
There was absolutely no reason for the hurried rush to decide this election. In one other election (Kennedy vs Nixon) the electors for Hawaii were not certified until much later than this. The actions of the SCOTUS, Florida Legislature and the Election Officers all reek of playing fast and loose with the will of the American people.
I see it as my duty to resist all efforts by the republican party to legitimize this election. I am personally obliged to engage in whatever civil disobedience that can help to cast the light of day upon the theft of the presidency by George W. Bush. The credibility of the United States Supreme Court is tainted by their blatant partisanship and will remain so until every one of the justices involved with the majority decision is removed from the bench by infirmity or death.
Our country is deserving of better than this sort of chicanery. Such manhandling of the will of the American people will not be soon forgotten. The republicans can look forward to an unhearalded degree of activism against their interests in all upcoming elections. I for one will make every effort to overturn their party in whatever way that is legally available to me.
Our forefathers did not lay dying on foreign soil to abet in this usurpation of our freedom. The mere notion that such legal maneuvering can somehow confer legitimacy upon one who has benefited from questionable practices at the polling place and state house is repugnant beyond all words and is a slap in the face of all the American people.
I, for one, will never be able to vote republican for the rest of my life. This sort of uncertainty is all that is needed to further disillusion the voting public about the validity of their electoral process. My own revulsion prevents me from typing any further.
This was mentioned on NPR last night. The report said that Hawaii changing its votes was unconstitutional because all of the votes must be made on the same day. Hawaii didn’t have enough electoral votes to change the election, so it didn’t really matter.
Again, this is a Constitutional issue. The Constitution says that the electing of the president by the Electoral College must take place on a given day. Surely we can establish rules as to which “non-votes” can be caounted as votes, and do it in such a way that the results will be difinitive. But such a recount could not be completed in time for the Constitutional date. And of course to be fair, all of Florida’s votes would have to be counted.
Personally, I think Bush is an idiot, and Gore is a bit anal. I don’t like either one of them.
Actually, I don’t see the General Question here, which is why my response was what it was. This should have been a GD thread, or maybe even the Pit.
Why talk about “partisanship”? I have no idea what the party affiliations of the justices are. I do know that seven were appointed by Replublican presidents (including Stevens) and two by Democratic presidents.
I’m not sure why this is in GQ either. I suspect placed this here by accident, Zenster. So, when I see where this ends up, I’ll make my reply to fit that forum.
But, I’m not sure what you mean when you call the decision partisan. After all, two Republican appointees sided with the Democratic appointees. That sounds more bi-partisan than partisan. At least to me.
I can see where a perception of partisanship can be left by the decision of the Supremes. Without a seeinga significant number of Constitutional scholars declaring the decision bad (and providing non-partisan reasons to support their opinions), I am not going to leap to the conclusion that the decision was partisan.
How do we (voters, Congress, President/Cabinet, Supreme Court) do it now? Some issues are driven by partisan politics, some by the underlying philosophical differences that lead to parties, some by simple decisions for fairness or accuracy. Do you believe that you are incapable of non-partisan decisions?
With roughly 50% of the country applauding the decision (and their seats not up for election), I doubt that they will suffer very much.
A large number of Gore supporters are going to be indignant over the decision, just as a large number of Bush supporters would have been indignant had the decision gone the other way. The next president needs to make a deliberate effort to extend the olive branch to the losing side (regardless of who was the victor) or the country will be deadlocked for some time. (Go read David Broder’s column from this past Sunday on the 50/50 split in the Senate.)
Most importantly, this is not a *General Question. It could, with some thought, be a Great Debate or, with some whining, be a BBQ Pit rant. It will, however, be finding a new home, soon.
I don’t know. Luckily, I’m not one of the SC Justices.
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In some people’s eyes, yes. In others’, no.
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Yes. [There will NOT be a profound backlash. I think that whoever dislikes the GOP already did for other reasons; the rest like the GOP and will not see any problem here.]
Unfortunately, I don’t think there are concrete answers for these. I just gave MHOs. And this thread should go to IMHO or GD.