Though a second day of hearings shattered their pretext, it did not shake their resolve; the Florida Legislature's Republican leaders still intend to call a special session to secure the presidency for George W. Bush. They will claim a "duty" to ensure that Congress counts Florida's 25 electoral votes when it convenes to formally certify the new president in January. The real purpose, however, is to ensure that those votes are counted only for Bush, no matter what any court might say had gone wrong with Florida's election.

Their scheme is unnecessary, unfair and profoundly unwise.

Unnecessary because Florida's electors have already been certified. Under federal law, it would be the duty of Congress, not the Legislature, to make the call in the increasingly unlikely event that some court ordered up a competing slate. In no case would Florida's electoral votes go uncounted, though they might not be counted as the bosses in Tallahassee would like.

Unfair, because as one of their own witnesses tried to tell them, they can't just stop the lawful judicial postelection challenge process without fashioning something else -- such as a ballot recount by the Legislature itself -- to protect every citizen's rights.

Unwise, because of the gross precedent it would set. Bruce Ackerman, a reknowned professor of law and political science at Yale who once clerked for Justice John Marshall Harlan, stated a clear and present danger in remarks telephoned to the hearing room:

"The constitutional issue raised before your distinguished committee is far, far more important than whether George Bush or Al Gore gets to the White House. . . . If the Florida Legislature proceeds to intervene at this late stage in violation of federal law, it will be setting a precedent for future state legislatures to intervene in every close election. This is a recipe for continuing instability in the process of presidential selection. Such a precedent, once set, will gravely undermine the legitimacy of the presidential office on a permanent basis and severely damage the entire constitutional structure."

They mean to do it anyhow. Bananas, anyone?

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