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Politics : Electoral College 2000 - Ahead of the Curve -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jttmab who wrote (5450)	12/9/2000 12:06:43 PM
From: CYBERKEN	Respond to of 6710

<<12/09/00 7:55 a.m. Chaos Theory Time to throw up your hands in frustration. By Rich Lowry Last night, Judge Terry Lewis did in effect what everyone else who tries to make sense of a Florida supreme court ruling eventually must do: throw up his hands in frustration. One reason that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't directly strike down the Florida court earlier in the week was confusion over the Florida Supremes' reasoning. Such confusion is rampant. The problem is that the Florida court makes legal arguments that are essentially Chris Lehane talking-points memos garnished with case cites. Yesterday, the court again rewrote Florida election law, but it had to pretend that it was doing no such thing. Hence, the court's pretense that it is abiding by a standard for counting undervotes passed by the Florida legislature. But the legislature only says that votes should be counted when the voters' intent is clearly discernible according to a canvassing board. And this goes to one of the central contradictions of the Florida court ruling. The legislature empowered the canvassing boards to make these decisions. But the court yesterday in effect nullified the canvassing boards and arrogated their role ? to decide whether or not to have a hand recount, to set standards for it ? to itself. Then, it had to pretend that there was some objective standard in the law outside the canvassing boards. There isn't, which is why Judge Lewis, struggling to make sense of the ruling, just threw the whole question right back to the canvassing boards. So, the Florida court ruled on the basis of the essential irrelevance of the canvassing boards at 4 p.m., and then another judge at midnight turned right back around and gave the canvassing boards a central role. So, we will have a hand recount all over the state of Florida mandated by central fiat, without any central standards. It will take place in rushed conditions, after the political acrimony in Florida has had a chance to ferment for weeks. It is, in short, a formula for chaos. In a telling footnote yesterday, the court said, "While we agree that practical difficulties may well end up controlling the outcome of the election, we vigorously disagree that we should therefore abandon our responsibility to resolve this election dispute." The Florida court, from its heights in la-la land, just doesn't care about practical difficulties. Which is why the legislature wanted to have, not the mandarins of the courts, but canvassing boards make these sort of decisions. But the time when the legislature's preferences as expressed in law had much bearing in Florida passed long ago .>>

To: jttmab who wrote (5450)	12/9/2000 1:52:47 PM
From: Oral Roberts	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6710

Listening to what they say in court is probably a good thing. I am just so pissed off by all of this that I probably don't even think straight anymore. I want this crap over! I'm tired of every weekend spent wondering how bad the gap down Monday morning will be. I know just stay cash you say, but a lot of stocks I follow and the Naz were looking pretty healthy and I never dreamed that the FSSC would do what it did. Just when you think you have it figured out:) Jeff