In Reply to: How low can you go? posted by mh on August 10, 2026 at 10:35:27
Five Justices Picked a President. We’re Still Paying.
Bush v. Gore turns twenty-six this month. Dan Perry and Cliff Schecter trace what actually followed.
Most historical turning points are obvious. Pearl Harbor. The assassination of John F. Kennedy. September 11. At the time, people understand they are witnessing events that will shape everything that follows–often in ways that cannot yet understand.
December 12, 2000, was different.
Quick, what happened that day? You don’t know? That puts you in the company of most Americans.
And yet there is a serious argument that no day during the past quarter century–and few in U.S. history–had greater long-term consequences on the health, wealth and welfare of our republic. That was the day the Supreme Court–in a partisan 5-4 decision that will live in infamy–decided in Bush v. Gore to ignore the traditional role of states in administering their elections (as laid out in the Constitution) and shut down vote counting in Florida with an unnecessary, arbitrary deadline. They “selected” George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States.
The highly partisan decision reeked of bias and corruption.
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Gore would have picked VERY different Justices. Essentially, the court picked itself.