Opinion: Supreme Court has served the nation well

Whether you are Democrat or Republican, you should thank the U.S. Supreme Court for its wise decision to stop the hand recount. This bold and courageous act saved the nation from an extremely devisive and embarrassing situation.

If the hand recount had continued, it is possible that Al Gore would have gotten more "votes" than George W. Bush. However, in that there was no established, common and workable "standard" as to what "vote," "dimple" or whatever to count throughout all 67 counties, the results would have been contested. Once the judicial process returned the issue back to the Supreme Court, the count and results would have been declared unconstitutional and void. That is when pandemonium would really have taken over throughout this nation!

The wise majority of the Supreme Court saved us from this very devisive conclusion. This nation has been well served by the court.
-- Edward E. Schultz, Weeki Wachee

Appointment preference

I prefer a president appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court over one appointed by the Broward County canvassing board any time.
-- Wes Short, Palm Harbor

It is time for reconciliation

I read the paper on Thursday pretty thoroughly. I found reporters to be unwilling to concede anything. I know it is in their interest to keep the rancor alive. I am not a dewy-eyed innocent, but the time has come for reconciliation.

We have a president-elect. I didn't want him, so what? No, there is not a crisis, there never was. What short memories we have. We can't recall the passions over Brown vs. Board of Education ? We can't remember Roe vs. Wade ? And there were many more difficult, unpopular decisions before my time.

Of course, the Supreme Court is not apolitical: It is made up of human beings. But it is our best hope. Since the justices are appointed for life, they have no one to whom they must answer. It's the best we can do. And through our history, it's been pretty darn good. I think they made an expedient decision this time. I don't like it. It is over. We have had a family argument and it's time to make up.
-- Doris Whelan, St. Petersburg

Bush has his work cut out for him

As Gerald Ford once said, "our long national nightmare has ended." While I have never been a fan of Al Gore, the vice president did a remarkable job, in my opinion, delivering a concession speech that should lay the foundation for reconciliation among the electorate and heal the nation's political wounds of the past presidential campaign. He was a true gentleman in the end.

It is now up to our new president, George W. Bush, to forge an agenda that will appeal to the American public, and bring the country together again. Unfortunately, the media, and most certainly the St. Petersburg Times, are sure to offer much advice in this regard, as they proceed to trivialize Bush's presidency and remind the voters at every opportunity how he achieved that office. To do anything else would be absolutely un-American.

After all, were it not for the media, how in the world would we ordinary citizens ever know where we stand on an issue. President-elect Bush does have his work cut out for him.
-- Larry M. Geiger, St. Petersburg

Bush should stick with his agenda

Now that George W. Bush has been elected president, the liberal media are saying that he should water down his agenda and move toward the center with his policy.

President Bush should do the exact opposite: Reach out to Democrats, but follow through with the agenda, unchanged, that he proposed during the campaign. This means reforming Social Security, across the board tax cuts, rebuilding the military, etc.

While he needs to try to compromise with Democrats, he should remind them who is in charge.
-- Scott Layden Jr., Brandon

Where are Democratic efforts at unity?

The press and the Democrats are demanding conciliation and unity from the Bush administration. Does this work only one way?

Where are conciliatory demands of the Democrat congressmen? What will they offer to the Bush executive team in the name of unity?
-- Raymond J. Ludwin, Brooksville

Partisanship and injustice

Now the politicians are asking for forgiveness from the American people. I am outraged at the loss of integrity in our political system and in the courts. If we are a country of law, what about giving equal protection to all Americans who went to the polls to vote. Why do the American people have to wait four years to get the president of their choice? Wouldn't a new national election be a better solution?

What the American people got were the partisan politics, expensive lawyers and expensive campaigns. This is not a country of laws, but rather a country of partisanship and injustice to the American people.
-- Diane Borino, New Port Richey

This isn't healing

Being off work Wednesday, I spent the day watching CNN (after having read the Times, of course) and listened to Republican after Republican talk about "healing" and "putting this all behind us." I heard this while knowing about that group, "Balance to the Bench," currently trying to raise $1-million to oust Justice Harry Lee Anstead from the Florida Supreme Court.

This isn't healing. This is revenge.
-- Betsy Clarke, Oldsmar

Bring balance to the Legislature

Re: GOP-led campaign targets justice, Dec. 13.

Since Florida Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead stood up for the right of the voters to have all of their votes counted and the Republican Party did not want them counted, a few wealthy Republicans are going to use their money in an attempt to remove him to "balance the bench" in their favor. Because Justice Anstead stood up for the right of the voters, he will definitely get my vote in 2002.

On the other hand, we absolutely need to balance the Republican dominated Legislature as the GOP lawmakers no longer care about the votes of the people. Under the sham of "protecting the rights of the voters," they were only seeking to protect George W. Bush's interests to the point that hadthe U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Al Gore's favor, they intended to select their own electors for Bush.

We need a campaign for a balanced Legislature, and that can be done with our votes.
-- Cora Rice, St. Petersburg

Not a good day for democracy

I have spent considerable time studying flawed elections and coups in other countries. I never thought I would see something so close to a coup in the United States, but I don't think there is another realistic way of describing what just happened with the presidential election.

During the campaign George W. Bush said, "I trust the people." But as soon as the polls closed, he and his supporters began working systematically to make sure all the votes were not counted. With the help of Florida's secretary of state (a Bush campaign official), Bush was able to delay and stop recounts until their desired result became inevitable.

Many of us have grown up in an era in which most Americans were proud to see the franchise extended and guaranteed to all people and to have every vote counted. Bush reversed this trend and struck a severe blow at inclusive democracy.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens put it well when he wrote, ". . . we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner . . ."

While I am not a fan of Gore, I am not heartened that we now will have as president the man who made sure the votes were not counted. It is not a good day for democracy.
-- Ward Stavig, Tampa

How can we trust this court?

Re: Calls for recusals not necessary, experts say, Dec. 12.

My whole life, and that's been a while, I have always held the U.S. Supreme Court in high regard. Now I find out that Justice Antonin Scalia's son Eugene is a Washington law partner of Theodore B. Olson, who has twice argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of our new president. Another son, John Scalia, is a lawyer in the Miami firm that has represented Bush in Florida. Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Virginia, is helping the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, collect applications from people seeking employment with the Bush administration. Chief Justice William Rehnquist's son, James, is a Boston lawyer helping to defend Microsoft in a private antitrust case that can be affected by the government's litigation.

We were robbed! I am now totally disfranchised, and I haven't been kissed. Wake up everybody. Now we can't even trust the Supreme Court.
-- Tony Alatis, Clearwater

Don't let this happen again

The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision is a clear indication that the nation and its courts are politically motivated. Congress should enact election laws and standards that will ensure its constituents that this election fiasco will never happen again.

Justice John Paul Stevens made it clear that the loser in this year's presidential election was the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.
-- Manny Andrade, Clearwater

There were no uncounted votes

I am sure none of the Democrats who wrote the letters on Dec. 14 are interested in facts, but maybe some reasonable people are. The most important fact is that there are no uncounted votes in Florida -- none. All valid votes were counted at least twice. What the letter writers refer to are the non-votes that the Democrats tried repeatedly to turn into votes. All valid votes were counted.

With regard to the denigration of the U.S. Supreme Court, I would ask why we saw nothing from these letter writers when the Florida Supreme Court, made up of six Democrats and one Independent, attempted twice to change Florida law, subvert the voting process and assist Al Gore in his attempts to steal the election.

Where was their outrage when the Democrats attempted to eliminate the ballots from our overseas military personnel?

Al Gore never led in Florida, but it still took the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure that Al Gore's "mob" of lawyers would not find a way to steal the election.
-- Robert T. Gupton, Clearwater

The election's other lessons

Much has been written, in this forum and elsewhere, that this election has taught children that their votes will not count.

Along with the right to vote comes the right to misread, the right to mishandle a stylus and the right to misconstrue ineptitude for disfranchisement.

I have used this election to reinforce to my daughter the importance of paying attention, following directions and being accountable for one's actions.
-- Jim Westerkamp, Indian Rocks Beach

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