Like I said before, it will never be over. However, it has come to a
conclusion of sorts.
Not surprisingly, I'm happy with the outcome, but not necessarily with
the way it came about. I think Bush would have won a manual recount,
but with strict standards applied across the entire state. There were
more undervotes in Republican counties, suggesting that if, the law of
averages held, Bush's lead would have actually grown. It bothers me
that the Florida Supreme court didn't bother to address the issue of
standards, instead issuing a recount with no instructions. At least
they had the good sense to order it statewide, even though it never
really got underway.
Those who say Bush faces an uphill battle are fools. There may be a
large number of people who consider him an illegitimate president, but
that doesn't really matter. For the first time in a long while, both
the President and Congress are controlled by the Republicans, even if by
a sliver. He'll have a lot easier time making policy than Clinton did
with two halves of Congress set against him.
Some people are now disillusioned with the high courts. I, for one,
don't have much faith in judges, no matter how high they're placed.
They seem to be just as susceptible to personal bias and ideology as
politicians. All too often they simply ignore the questions they don't
want to answer, presenting their rulings in direct contrast with laws
they simply do not like. They have as much leeway in "interpreting"
laws as they want... until an appeal court decides to step in. Problem
is that you can't always count on that.
