A Simple Q&A that Every American Should Read
Dear friends,
Please take a few moments and read this excellent piece on the
Supreme Court's decision that made Bush "president." Pass it
around to all your friends. It's the best thing I've seen.
Yours,
Michael Moore
http://www.theawfultruth.com/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
[email protected]
A LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO
THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IN BUSH V.
GORE
by Mark H. Levine, Attorney at Law
Q: I'm not a lawyer and I don't understand the recent
Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore. Can you explain it to me?
A: Sure. I'm a lawyer. I read it. It says Bush wins, even if Gore got the most votes.
Q: But wait a second. The US Supreme Court has to give a
reason, right?
A: Right.
Q: So Bush wins because hand-counts are illegal?
A: Oh no. Six of the justices (two-thirds majority) believed the hand-counts were legal and should be done.
Q: Oh. So the justices did not believe that the hand-counts
would find any legal ballots?
A. Nope. The five conservative justices clearly held (and all nine justices agreed) "that punch card balloting machines can produce an unfortunate number of ballots which are not punched in a clean, complete way by the voter." So there are legal votes that should be counted but can't be.
Oh. Does this have something to do with states' rights?
Don't conservatives love that?
A: Generally yes. These five justices, in the past few years, have held that the federal government has no business telling a
sovereign state university it can't steal trade secrets just because such stealing is prohibited by law. Nor does the federal
government have any business telling a state that it should bar
guns in schools. Nor can the federal government use the equal
protection clause to force states to take measures to stop violence against women.
Q: Is there an exception in this case?
A: Yes, the Gore exception. States have no rights to have their
own state elections when it can result in Gore being elected
President. This decision is limited to only this situation.
Q: C'mon. The Supremes didn't really say that. You're
exaggerating.
A: Nope. They held "Our consideration is limited to the present
circumstances, or the problem of equal protection in election
processes generally presents many complexities."
Q: What complexities?
A: They don't say.
Q: I'll bet I know the reason. I heard Jim Baker say this. The
votes can't be counted because the Florida Supreme Court
"changed the rules of the election after it was held." Right?
A. Dead wrong. The US Supreme Court made clear that the
Florida Supreme Court did not change the rules of the election.
But the US Supreme Court found the failure of the Florida Court
to change the rules was wrong.
Q: Huh?
A: The Legislature declared that the only legal standard for
counting vote is "clear intent of the voter." The Florida Court was condemned for not adopting a clearer standard.
Q: I thought the Florida Court was not allowed to change the
Legislature's law after the election.
A: Right.
Q: So what's the problem?
A: They should have. The US Supreme Court said the Florida
Supreme Court should have "adopt[ed] adequate statewide
standards for determining what is a legal vote"
Q: I thought only the Legislature could "adopt" new law.
A: Right.
Q: So if the Court had adopted new standards, I thought it
would have been overturned.
A: Right. You're catching on.
Q: If the Court had adopted new standards, it would have
been overturned for changing the rules. And if it didn't, it's
overturned for not changing the rules. That means that no
matter what the Florida Supreme Court did, legal votes could
never be counted.
A: Right. Next question.
Q: Wait, wait. I thought the problem was "equal protection,"
that some counties counted votes differently from others.
Isn't that a problem?
A: It sure is. Across the nation, we vote in a hodgepodge of
systems. Some, like the optical-scanners in largely
Republican-leaning counties record 99.7% of the votes. Some,
like the punchcard systems in largely Democratic-leaning
counties record only 97% of the votes. So approximately 3% of
Democratic votes are thrown in the trash can.
Q: Aha! That's a severe equal-protection problem!!!
A: No it's not. The Supreme Court wasn't worried about the 3% of Democratic ballots thrown in the trashcan in Florida. That
"complexity" was not a problem.
Q: Was it the butterfly ballots that violated Florida law and
tricked more than 20,000 Democrats to vote for Buchanan or
Gore and Buchanan.
A: Nope. The Supreme Court has no problem believing that
Buchanan got his highest, best support in a precinct consisting of a Jewish old age home with Holocaust survivors, who apparently
have changed their mind about Hitler.
Q: Yikes. So what was the serious equal protection problem?
A: The problem was neither the butterfly ballot nor the 3% of
Democrats (largely African-American) disenfranchised. The
problem is that somewhat less than .005% of the ballots may have
been determined under slightly different standards because
judges sworn to uphold the law and doing their best to accomplish
the legislative mandate of "clear intent of the voter" may have a
slightly different opinion about the voter's intent.
Q: Hmmm. OK, so if those votes are thrown out, you can still
count the votes where everyone agrees the voter's intent is
clear?
A: Nope. No time.
Q: No time to count legal votes where everyone, even
Republicans, agree the intent is clear? Why not?
A: Because December 12 was yesterday.
Q: Is December 12 a deadline for counting votes?
A: No. January 6 is the deadline. In 1960, Hawaii's votes weren't counted until January 4.
Q: So why is December 12 important?
A: December 12 is a deadline by which Congress can't challenge
the results.
Q: What does the Congressional role have to do with the
Supreme Court?
A: Nothing. The Florida Supreme Court had earlier held it would like to complete its work by December 12 to make things easier for Congress. The United States Supreme Court is trying to help the Florida Supreme Court out by forcing the Florida court to abide by a deadline that everyone agrees is not binding.
Q: But I thought the Florida Court was going to just barely
have the votes counted by December 12.
A: They would have made it, but the five conservative justices
stopped the recount last Saturday.
Q: Why?
A: Justice Scalia said some of the counts may not be legal.
Q: So why not separate the votes into piles, indentations for
Gore, hanging chads for Bush, votes that everyone agrees
went to one candidate or the other so that we know exactly
how Florida voted before determining who won? Then, if
some ballots (say, indentations) have to be thrown out, the
American people will know right away who won Florida.
A. Great idea! The US Supreme Court rejected it. They held that such counts would likely to produce election results showing Gore won and Gore's winning would cause "public acceptance" and that would "cast a cloud over Bush's legitimacy that would harm democratic stability."
Q: In other words, if America knows the truth that Gore won,
they won't accept the US Supreme Court overturning Gore's
victory?
A: Yes.
Q: Is that a legal reason to stop recounts? or a political one?
A: Let's just say in all of American history and all of American law, this reason has no basis in law. But that doesn't stop the five conservatives from creating new law out of thin air.
Q: Aren't these conservative justices against judicial activism?
A: Yes, when liberal judges are perceived to have done it.
Q: Well, if the December 12 deadline is not binding, why not
count the votes?
A: The US Supreme Court, after admitting the December 12
deadline is not binding, set December 12 as a binding deadline at
10 p.m. on December 12.
Q: Didn't the US Supreme Court condemn the Florida
Supreme Court for arbitrarily setting a deadline?
A: Yes.
Q: But, but --
A: Not to worry. The US Supreme Court does not have to follow
laws it sets for other courts.
Q: So who caused Florida to miss the December 12 deadline?
A: The Bush lawyers, the first to go to court, to stop the recount; the mob in Miami that got paid Florida vacations for intimidating officials; and the US Supreme Court for stopping the recount.
Q: So who is punished for this behavior?
A: Gore, of course. And, of course, the American people.
Q: We don't know who really won the election there, right?
A: Right. Though a careful analysis by the Miami Herald shows
Gore won Florida by about 20,000 votes (excluding the butterfly ballot errors).
Q: So, what do we do, have a re-vote? Throw out the entire
state? Count all ballots under a single uniform standard?
A: No. We just don't count the votes that favor Gore.
Q: That's completely bizarre! That sounds like rank political
favoritism! Did the justices have any financial interest in the
case?
A: SCALIA'S TWO SONS ARE BOTH LAWYERS WORKING FOR BUSH. THOMAS'S WIFE IS COLLECTING APPLICATIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO WORK IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
Q: Why didn't they recuse themselves?
A: If either had recused himself, the vote would be 4-4, and the Florida Supreme Court decision allowing recounts would have
been affirmed.
Q: I can't believe the justices acted in such a blatantly
political way.
A: Read the opinions for yourself:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/supremecourt/00-949_dec12.fdf
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/00pdf/00-949.pdf
Q: So what are the consequences of this?
A: The guy who got the most votes in the US and in Florida and
under our Constitution (Al Gore) will lose to America's second
choice who won the all important 5-4 Supreme Court vote.
Q: I thought in a democracy, the guy with the most votes
wins.
A: True, in a democracy. But America is not a democracy. In
America, in the year 2000, the guy with the most US Supreme
Court votes wins.
Q: Is there any way to stop the Supreme Court from doing
this again?
A: YES. No federal judge can be confirmed without a vote in the Senate. It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. If only 41 of the 50 Democratic Senators stand up to Bush and his Supremes and say that they will not approve a single judge appointed by him until a President can be democratically elected in 2004, the judicial reign of terror can end... and one day we can hope to return to the rule of law, the rule of government by the people.
Q: What do I do now?
A: E-mail this to everyone you know, and write or call your
senator, reminding him that Gore beat Bush by several hundred
thousand votes (three times Kennedy's margin over Nixon) and
that you believe that VOTERS rather than JUDGES should
determine who wins an election by counting every vote. And to
protect our judiciary from overturning the will of the people, you want them to confirm NO NEW JUDGES until 2004 when a
president is finally chosen by most of the American people.
Dear friends,
Please take a few moments and read this excellent piece on the
Supreme Court's decision that made Bush "president." Pass it
around to all your friends. It's the best thing I've seen.
Yours,
Michael Moore
http://www.theawfultruth.com/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
[email protected]
A LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO
THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IN BUSH V.
GORE
by Mark H. Levine, Attorney at Law
Q: I'm not a lawyer and I don't understand the recent
Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore. Can you explain it to me?
A: Sure. I'm a lawyer. I read it. It says Bush wins, even if Gore got the most votes.
Q: But wait a second. The US Supreme Court has to give a
reason, right?
A: Right.
Q: So Bush wins because hand-counts are illegal?
A: Oh no. Six of the justices (two-thirds majority) believed the hand-counts were legal and should be done.
Q: Oh. So the justices did not believe that the hand-counts
would find any legal ballots?
A. Nope. The five conservative justices clearly held (and all nine justices agreed) "that punch card balloting machines can produce an unfortunate number of ballots which are not punched in a clean, complete way by the voter." So there are legal votes that should be counted but can't be.
Oh. Does this have something to do with states' rights?
Don't conservatives love that?
A: Generally yes. These five justices, in the past few years, have held that the federal government has no business telling a
sovereign state university it can't steal trade secrets just because such stealing is prohibited by law. Nor does the federal
government have any business telling a state that it should bar
guns in schools. Nor can the federal government use the equal
protection clause to force states to take measures to stop violence against women.
Q: Is there an exception in this case?
A: Yes, the Gore exception. States have no rights to have their
own state elections when it can result in Gore being elected
President. This decision is limited to only this situation.
Q: C'mon. The Supremes didn't really say that. You're
exaggerating.
A: Nope. They held "Our consideration is limited to the present
circumstances, or the problem of equal protection in election
processes generally presents many complexities."
Q: What complexities?
A: They don't say.
Q: I'll bet I know the reason. I heard Jim Baker say this. The
votes can't be counted because the Florida Supreme Court
"changed the rules of the election after it was held." Right?
A. Dead wrong. The US Supreme Court made clear that the
Florida Supreme Court did not change the rules of the election.
But the US Supreme Court found the failure of the Florida Court
to change the rules was wrong.
Q: Huh?
A: The Legislature declared that the only legal standard for
counting vote is "clear intent of the voter." The Florida Court was condemned for not adopting a clearer standard.
Q: I thought the Florida Court was not allowed to change the
Legislature's law after the election.
A: Right.
Q: So what's the problem?
A: They should have. The US Supreme Court said the Florida
Supreme Court should have "adopt[ed] adequate statewide
standards for determining what is a legal vote"
Q: I thought only the Legislature could "adopt" new law.
A: Right.
Q: So if the Court had adopted new standards, I thought it
would have been overturned.
A: Right. You're catching on.
Q: If the Court had adopted new standards, it would have
been overturned for changing the rules. And if it didn't, it's
overturned for not changing the rules. That means that no
matter what the Florida Supreme Court did, legal votes could
never be counted.
A: Right. Next question.
Q: Wait, wait. I thought the problem was "equal protection,"
that some counties counted votes differently from others.
Isn't that a problem?
A: It sure is. Across the nation, we vote in a hodgepodge of
systems. Some, like the optical-scanners in largely
Republican-leaning counties record 99.7% of the votes. Some,
like the punchcard systems in largely Democratic-leaning
counties record only 97% of the votes. So approximately 3% of
Democratic votes are thrown in the trash can.
Q: Aha! That's a severe equal-protection problem!!!
A: No it's not. The Supreme Court wasn't worried about the 3% of Democratic ballots thrown in the trashcan in Florida. That
"complexity" was not a problem.
Q: Was it the butterfly ballots that violated Florida law and
tricked more than 20,000 Democrats to vote for Buchanan or
Gore and Buchanan.
A: Nope. The Supreme Court has no problem believing that
Buchanan got his highest, best support in a precinct consisting of a Jewish old age home with Holocaust survivors, who apparently
have changed their mind about Hitler.
Q: Yikes. So what was the serious equal protection problem?
A: The problem was neither the butterfly ballot nor the 3% of
Democrats (largely African-American) disenfranchised. The
problem is that somewhat less than .005% of the ballots may have
been determined under slightly different standards because
judges sworn to uphold the law and doing their best to accomplish
the legislative mandate of "clear intent of the voter" may have a
slightly different opinion about the voter's intent.
Q: Hmmm. OK, so if those votes are thrown out, you can still
count the votes where everyone agrees the voter's intent is
clear?
A: Nope. No time.
Q: No time to count legal votes where everyone, even
Republicans, agree the intent is clear? Why not?
A: Because December 12 was yesterday.
Q: Is December 12 a deadline for counting votes?
A: No. January 6 is the deadline. In 1960, Hawaii's votes weren't counted until January 4.
Q: So why is December 12 important?
A: December 12 is a deadline by which Congress can't challenge
the results.
Q: What does the Congressional role have to do with the
Supreme Court?
A: Nothing. The Florida Supreme Court had earlier held it would like to complete its work by December 12 to make things easier for Congress. The United States Supreme Court is trying to help the Florida Supreme Court out by forcing the Florida court to abide by a deadline that everyone agrees is not binding.
Q: But I thought the Florida Court was going to just barely
have the votes counted by December 12.
A: They would have made it, but the five conservative justices
stopped the recount last Saturday.
Q: Why?
A: Justice Scalia said some of the counts may not be legal.
Q: So why not separate the votes into piles, indentations for
Gore, hanging chads for Bush, votes that everyone agrees
went to one candidate or the other so that we know exactly
how Florida voted before determining who won? Then, if
some ballots (say, indentations) have to be thrown out, the
American people will know right away who won Florida.
A. Great idea! The US Supreme Court rejected it. They held that such counts would likely to produce election results showing Gore won and Gore's winning would cause "public acceptance" and that would "cast a cloud over Bush's legitimacy that would harm democratic stability."
Q: In other words, if America knows the truth that Gore won,
they won't accept the US Supreme Court overturning Gore's
victory?
A: Yes.
Q: Is that a legal reason to stop recounts? or a political one?
A: Let's just say in all of American history and all of American law, this reason has no basis in law. But that doesn't stop the five conservatives from creating new law out of thin air.
Q: Aren't these conservative justices against judicial activism?
A: Yes, when liberal judges are perceived to have done it.
Q: Well, if the December 12 deadline is not binding, why not
count the votes?
A: The US Supreme Court, after admitting the December 12
deadline is not binding, set December 12 as a binding deadline at
10 p.m. on December 12.
Q: Didn't the US Supreme Court condemn the Florida
Supreme Court for arbitrarily setting a deadline?
A: Yes.
Q: But, but --
A: Not to worry. The US Supreme Court does not have to follow
laws it sets for other courts.
Q: So who caused Florida to miss the December 12 deadline?
A: The Bush lawyers, the first to go to court, to stop the recount; the mob in Miami that got paid Florida vacations for intimidating officials; and the US Supreme Court for stopping the recount.
Q: So who is punished for this behavior?
A: Gore, of course. And, of course, the American people.
Q: We don't know who really won the election there, right?
A: Right. Though a careful analysis by the Miami Herald shows
Gore won Florida by about 20,000 votes (excluding the butterfly ballot errors).
Q: So, what do we do, have a re-vote? Throw out the entire
state? Count all ballots under a single uniform standard?
A: No. We just don't count the votes that favor Gore.
Q: That's completely bizarre! That sounds like rank political
favoritism! Did the justices have any financial interest in the
case?
A: SCALIA'S TWO SONS ARE BOTH LAWYERS WORKING FOR BUSH. THOMAS'S WIFE IS COLLECTING APPLICATIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO WORK IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
Q: Why didn't they recuse themselves?
A: If either had recused himself, the vote would be 4-4, and the Florida Supreme Court decision allowing recounts would have
been affirmed.
Q: I can't believe the justices acted in such a blatantly
political way.
A: Read the opinions for yourself:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/supremecourt/00-949_dec12.fdf
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/00pdf/00-949.pdf
Q: So what are the consequences of this?
A: The guy who got the most votes in the US and in Florida and
under our Constitution (Al Gore) will lose to America's second
choice who won the all important 5-4 Supreme Court vote.
Q: I thought in a democracy, the guy with the most votes
wins.
A: True, in a democracy. But America is not a democracy. In
America, in the year 2000, the guy with the most US Supreme
Court votes wins.
Q: Is there any way to stop the Supreme Court from doing
this again?
A: YES. No federal judge can be confirmed without a vote in the Senate. It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. If only 41 of the 50 Democratic Senators stand up to Bush and his Supremes and say that they will not approve a single judge appointed by him until a President can be democratically elected in 2004, the judicial reign of terror can end... and one day we can hope to return to the rule of law, the rule of government by the people.
Q: What do I do now?
A: E-mail this to everyone you know, and write or call your
senator, reminding him that Gore beat Bush by several hundred
thousand votes (three times Kennedy's margin over Nixon) and
that you believe that VOTERS rather than JUDGES should
determine who wins an election by counting every vote. And to
protect our judiciary from overturning the will of the people, you want them to confirm NO NEW JUDGES until 2004 when a
president is finally chosen by most of the American people.