READER COMMENTS ON
"Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: 'Maybe' Bush v. Gore Was a Mistake"
(32 Responses so far...)
COMMENT #1 [Permalink]
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Francis
said on 4/29/2013 @ 2:32 pm PT...
What an ugly thing this lady did. How she can sleep at night is beyond me.
COMMENT #2 [Permalink]
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karen
said on 4/29/2013 @ 3:05 pm PT...
When you state your ruling can't be applied as precedent to any other similar election law case, you are admitting you did not decide on good law, legal theory...you just polled the group and did what you wanted, you legislated.
they argued there was not equality in voting methods, but the remedy was to stop hand-counting rather than simply insisting all votes be treated in same manner. Undemocratic move.
COMMENT #3 [Permalink]
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D. R. Tucker
said on 4/29/2013 @ 3:17 pm PT...
Brad,
O'Connor went on to state,
"Hey, it seemed like a good idea
at the time! I figured, what could possibly
go wrong?"
;)
COMMENT #4 [Permalink]
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Ancient
said on 4/29/2013 @ 3:44 pm PT...
That picture says it all, regrettable such a smart woman could have been so blinded to truth, the weight of criminality on the soul. Sure don't want to see Blow-your-face-off's mug at his ending, or his liz the foreign policy lizard. Even now though, if they came clean I feel they'd be safer than continuing to track down the path they are on.
COMMENT #5 [Permalink]
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Kenneth Fingeret
said on 4/29/2013 @ 5:05 pm PT...
Hello Brad Friedman,
The Extreme Kourt is one turd of the cesspool that leads the US. This plus the other 2 branches laxative and executing are as useful as a burst appendix. The only thing left is to watch the USS Titanic sink!
COMMENT #6 [Permalink]
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dael
said on 4/29/2013 @ 6:08 pm PT...
COMMENT #7 [Permalink]
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Dredd
said on 4/29/2013 @ 6:28 pm PT...
It was a wickedly wrong decision.
She knows it but can't admit to being one to bring down American democracy along with the supreme 5.
Get over it Sandra, you and the gang were wicked to do what you did.
The fruit of your wickedness proves it ... the wicked Bush II.
COMMENT #8 [Permalink]
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CambridgeKnitter
said on 4/29/2013 @ 6:32 pm PT...
And on the local level, I left the Cambridge City Council meeting tonight through the basement and walked by a completely unattended ES&S Automark machine (primaries to fill John Kerry's Senate seat tomorrow).
COMMENT #9 [Permalink]
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GWN
said on 4/29/2013 @ 6:37 pm PT...
For some reason John Gideon came to mind as I read this.
John Gideon 1947-2009 (Died April 27)
John's mission: "To encourage citizen ownership of transparent, participatory democracy."
https://bradblog.com/?p=7102
COMMENT #10 [Permalink]
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Grizzlybeardancer
said on 4/29/2013 @ 11:09 pm PT...
Someone should ask her how she feels in retrospect about bringing back witch burning. These people wanted to install and that's what we got.
COMMENT #11 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 4/30/2013 @ 7:08 am PT...
PAY OUR WAY
Why not? We have the revenue to do it easily.
Our revenue is 14,000 Billion
Our budget is 3800B.
1973 to 2012 outlays, as percent of GDP, averaged 21%
Revenues averaged 18%.
It takes 27% of Revenues to cover 3800B of expenditures
Obama 2013 budget projected revenue of 2900B or 20% of Revenue
Make taxes Effective at 27% and we balance.
We cannot continue to borrow borrow borrow.
We owed less than 1000B in 1980.
Bush doubled it by taking 9-30-01 debt of 5800B to 11,900 to 9-30-09 Obama will watch it rise to above 17,000.. It is disgusting.
Tax Wealth is only way as we did to eliminate WWII Debt.
COMMENT #12 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 4/30/2013 @ 7:10 am PT...
Perhaps she will say "A Corporation is a Person" was a huge huge huge mistake???
It has allowed Rich to own Congress.
COMMENT #13 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 4/30/2013 @ 7:14 am PT...
Whata differnece!
Today
Budget 2500B not 3800B
Deficit 0 not 900
Full employment
More Equality in Wealth distribution
Hundreds of thousnds stil alive
Oh! How we miss Gore
COMMENT #14 [Permalink]
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Floridiot
said on 4/30/2013 @ 7:22 am PT...
They already went down in history as the most partisan Supreme Court ever, common sense be damned...
They're not going to change that...
COMMENT #15 [Permalink]
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Ernest A. Canning
said on 4/30/2013 @ 9:11 am PT...
Thanks for adding the "what could go wrong?" quote, D.R. Tucker.
Yes, what could possibly go wrong?
With GWB at the helm, or perhaps asleep at the wheel, we had 9/11 followed by $trillions squandered on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, torture, an assault on civil liberties, HAVA and, ultimately, the 2008 collapse of the Wall Street casino.
By selecting the losing 2000 candidate as the winner, the court not only decided the outcome of the Presidency but drastically altered the make up of the Supreme Court itself.
While one cannot say for certain whether or not 9/11 would have transpired if Gore rather than GWB had been in the WH, it is likely that a President Gore would have been re-elected in 2004. Neither John Roberts, who was nominated by GWB in 2005 nor Samuel Alito (2006) would be sitting on the Supreme Court. Without those two Federalist Society-connected radicals in robes on the bench, we would not be left to deal with the infamous Citizens United decision.
COMMENT #16 [Permalink]
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Thick-Witted Liberal
said on 4/30/2013 @ 10:03 am PT...
She has known this for 12 years. She knew it when she did it. She selfishly voted this way so that a Republican president could name her replacement. This will be her legacy. She was an accessory to the worst crimes committed in the name of the U.S. government. She is cursed and she looks like it.
COMMENT #17 [Permalink]
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MissingHitchens
said on 4/30/2013 @ 11:15 am PT...
You screwed the entire Planet!!!!!
COMMENT #18 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 4/30/2013 @ 12:34 pm PT...
Dael said @ 6:
but the vote WAS verifiable in Venezuela! Pres. Carter says it was the best! http://www.gregpalast.co...he-election-in-venezuela the vote paper and electronic and then there is a random audit.
My friend Greg Palast (via Jimmy Carter) is wrong there. Venezuela uses Ballot Marking Devices which produce computer-printed ballots that are 100% unverifiable after the election. The only thing their post-election audits do is tell us if the paper ballots match what the touch-screens recorded and sent electronically to headquarters. As I detailed in this recent story on L.A.'s plans for a new voting system, there is no way to know if what is printed on those ballots actually matches the voter intent, and there are numerous studies from prestigious universities detailing how most voters neither check the print outs nor notice when the computer has flipped their vote on them.
Jimmy Carter is as wrong on this matter as he was when he tossed in with James Baker and the Bushies to lend his name to that faking national election reform commission after the 2004 election (the commission that, as predicted, ended up calling for polling place Photo ID restrictions.)
COMMENT #19 [Permalink]
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Brad Friedman
said on 4/30/2013 @ 12:35 pm PT...
CambridgeKnitter @ 8:
And on the local level, I left the Cambridge City Council meeting tonight through the basement and walked by a completely unattended ES&S Automark machine (primaries to fill John Kerry's Senate seat tomorrow).
I assume you didn't put a piece of paper on it that said "THIS VOTING MACHINE HAS NOW BEEN HACKED! ENJOY!" as I would have, else I'd probably have heard about that by now. Right?
So, if you didn't, why didn't you?!
COMMENT #20 [Permalink]
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clarence swiinney
said on 4/30/2013 @ 2:02 pm PT...
TAX CUT FOR 2%-----
COMPROMISE TO GET IT FOR MIDDLE CLASS BUT BUT TELL US WHAT IT MEANS
A typical Republican contribution to Wall Street Ultra Rich
Once known as CCP (country club party) now known as WSA party (wall street of america)
2% get 70 Billion per year from the tax cut
2%--get 30% of our Total Income
2%--took 75% of total income gain from 2001-2007
2% wealth--own about 50% of total financial wealth
2% are among the Forbes richest 400.
2% are among Fortune highest 400 incomes
2% pay 17% in income taxes
2% own major corporations that pay 16% income taxes
2% that 1980-2009 got 281% increase in Income while middle 20% got 25% or less than inflation for a net loss. 3 million investors/gamblers versus 120 million workers
What did we get from Bush 1700B Tax Cuts from which 2.7% got four times as much as bottom 80%.
2% that in 8 under Bush sent 2,300,000 jobs to just China.
2% that in 8 under Bush created 31,000 net new jobs or worst since Hoover.
Mr. President.. STAND TALL BE BRAVE DO NOT REWARD GREEDY ROBBER BARONS
Tell the people the Republicans are the PARTY OF WALL STREET with a goal of eliminating the MIDDLE CLASS. Since 1980 their policies have made America number ONE in major nations in INEQUALITY of Income-Wealth. Declining Ame
COMMENT #21 [Permalink]
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CambridgeKnitter
said on 4/30/2013 @ 8:40 pm PT...
Brad @ 19: I didn't have a spare piece of paper with me, and I was leaving the meeting early to go put my migrainy self to bed, so I wasn't feeling clever enough to think of that. At least the op-scan machine wasn't there, just its base. I wonder if anyone actually uses the Automark machines.
COMMENT #22 [Permalink]
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Mark701
said on 5/1/2013 @ 6:40 am PT...
I think it would have been better if she hadn't said anything. Her admission means that the years 2000 to 2008 didn't have to roll out the way they did. Gore would likely have paid attention to the intel regarding 9/11, he probably would have cracked down on the banks and Wall Street over sub-prime lending, we'd be light years further down the road to energy independence, there would be no Patriot Act, no Homeland Security, Iraq and possibly Afghanistan wouldn't have happened, the budget deficit wouldn't look like it does today, no illegal wiretapping of Americans etc, etc, etc.
Sandra, your decision resulted in American democracy being put on life support, and now it appears the patient may die. If this is some kind of confession saying you're sorry for what happened, it isn't enough. Forgiveness is the prerogative of the victim(s). Too many people have suffered and died, too much wealth has been squandered, to many rights compromised. At this point it's probably best you keep your thoughts to yourself.
COMMENT #23 [Permalink]
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Ernest A. Canning
said on 5/1/2013 @ 7:12 am PT...
Mark701 @22 wrote:
Gore...probably would have cracked down on the banks and Wall Street over sub-prime lending...
First, there was a great deal more than "sub-prime lending" that led to the collapse of the Wall Street Casino. It entailed massive fraudulent schemes, such as the packaging of credit default swaps, that was all made possible when President Clinton signed into law a repeal of Glass-Steagall.
Second, while one would hope that a Gore administration would have cracked down on Wall Street fraud, certainly that hasn't happened under the Obama administration where Attorney General Eric Holder has actually endorsed too big to jail.
COMMENT #24 [Permalink]
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clarence swiinney
said on 5/1/2013 @ 7:24 am PT...
REVENUE
The Obama 2014 Budget projects the National Debt to drop by $1.8 Trillion over the next ten years.
The means spending cuts of $4.3 Trillion. It calls for $580B in new tax revenue.
Spending surged from two wars and Part D Medicare and financial meltdown.
The Treasury will need to raise revenue higher than the historical average (20% of GDP)
to fund the massive Bush debt (+6100B) and address the aging population and $2T more to finish the two very dumb wars.
Spending has hit a 60 year low yet we continue to create huge deficits due to lack of revenue.
Ten Simple Items
We need to hit historical 20% of GDP in Revenue
The 2000s were a Lost Decade for Tax Revenue (The Rich got much richer)
The 2000s saw an unusual massive increase in spending-180B to 3500B) +90%
We need $4T in future unfunded dumb war costs
Unprecedented contraction of the Public Sector
Rapid Aging population make historical Revenue and Spending Averages obsolete
Raising Social Security cap is long Overdue.(means test it)
Non-Defense Discretionary Spending at lowest level in decades. Since 1962.
The American people wart to keep or expanding on most programsEWe have cut enough now, Now is not the time to cut more. Raise Revenue. Forbes new Wealth list added 212 New Billionaires.
In a dormant economy.!
Most copiled from Jon Perr in crooks and liars. .org
COMMENT #25 [Permalink]
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AlwaysFree
said on 5/2/2013 @ 4:00 am PT...
She's become her own 'Portrait of Dorian Gray'.
COMMENT #26 [Permalink]
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lmk
said on 5/2/2013 @ 6:05 am PT...
Dream on, Mark701. I used to think the same as you until it sunk in that Gore would have been neutered by the evil Forrest Gump as his VP. Weasel Joe has always had his own neocon agenda. I also suspect Weasel Joe had powerful friends who were quite happy with the status quo on Wall St.
COMMENT #27 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 5/3/2013 @ 7:22 am PT...
Of course it was a bad decision.
Look at 2009
Budget 2500 not 3800
Deficit Surplus
Debt 6000 not 11,900
No two wars
No hugetax cut for rich
full employment
COMMENT #28 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 5/3/2013 @ 7:23 am PT...
OBAMA WINS
Can he get it done? His very late budget.
The latest Grand Bargain is thru the Senate using Budget Reconciliation
which removes the filibuster. Then it goes to the House, where only a small number of Republicans are needed to pass it. Tell Democrats in the House they will lose their jobs if they vote against Social Security and Medicare. Go For It.
COMMENT #29 [Permalink]
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lmk
said on 5/3/2013 @ 9:14 am PT...
Clarence, are you referring to the budget with the chained CPI "fix"?
COMMENT #30 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 5/5/2013 @ 9:03 am PT...
AMERICAN ENEMY NUMBER ONE
DAVID KOCH
He financed the election of 50 Tea Party members.
Two goals—Cut Government—Cut Taxes (for rich)
His uninformed followers responsible for Sequestering:
Cancer clinics—Planned Parenthood—Air Traffic Controllers—EPA Clean Air/ Clean Water-
50 year old sewer systems (one break took weeks to repair 100 years of pipe near my home)-
Head Start (keep em dumb they may vote Republican)--Wages are falling—20 million jobless--
The percent of working age with jobs lowest since 1979—child care---on and on on by each budget item.
No one questions cut waste and fraud but 80% of our budget is in 5 Groups—Defense-Social Security(pays its way)--Medicare-M edicaid-Interest.
Go Top down not 20% that cost 80% of our budget.
Many nations have tried the across the board butcher knife to their regret.
Prioritize Gentlemen. Top Down. Stop the butchering needed programs
Retiring Transportation Head said we will be calling it Pot Hole America due to cuts in already tight budgets.
COMMENT #31 [Permalink]
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BeyondRedemption
said on 5/7/2013 @ 12:54 am PT...
Justice O'Conner, thank you very much... I used to think you were a great Lady. Now I've lost all respect for you..... You're a shit stain!
COMMENT #32 [Permalink]
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clarence swinney
said on 5/10/2013 @ 7:35 am PT...
BUDGET 2014
The Obama budget (long overdue) has tax changes including individual, corporate, estate and excise taxes. Those making over $1 million would pay more. It would cost them almost $83,000 on average.
Those making $50,000--$75,000 would pay an average $ 60 more.
Between $100,000-$200,000 about $150 on average.
For highest incomes, limited the value of itemized items to 28%, limit the benefit of large tax-favored retirement accounts, impose a Fair Share minimum tax at 30% of adjusted gross income
over $1 million, raise taxes on estates, gifts and certain family trusts.
It would raise about $1 trillion over ten years. Most of new revenue will come from those making $200,000 or more.
Fed fund campaigns---6 Months period—3 primary-3 general—Free equal TV time.
Debate a week=12=adequate to evaluate candidates.