After Casting Key Fifth Vote For Bush, Justice O’Connor Now Regrets Bush v. Gore

[Harry Monroe]

Source: Think Progress

After Casting Key Fifth Vote For Bush, Justice O’Connor Now Regrets Bush v. Gore

By Ian Millhiser on Apr 29, 2013 at 9:00 am

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision:
Looking back, O’Connor said, she isn’t sure the high court should have taken [Bush v. Gore].
“It took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue,” O’Connor said during a talk Friday with the Tribune editorial board. “Maybe the court should have said, ‘We’re not going to take it, goodbye.’”
The case, she said, “stirred up the public” and “gave the court a less-than-perfect reputation.”
“Obviously the court did reach a decision and thought it had to reach a decision,” she said. “It turned out the election authorities in Florida hadn’t done a real good job there and kind of messed it up. And probably the Supreme Court added to the problem at the end of the day.“
If nothing else, Bush v. Gore demonstrates how justices who are determined to reach a certain result are capable of bending both the law and their own prior jurisprudence in order to achieve it. In Bush, the five conservative justices held, in the words of Harvard’s Larry Tribe, that “equal protection of the laws required giving no protection of the laws to the thousands of still uncounted ballots.”

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/29/1931821/after-casting-key-fifth-vote-for-bush-justice-oconnor-now-regrets-bush-v-gore/

[Paulie]

1. It's ok Sandra

The blood of thousands is still on your hands. Congrats for being a partisan hack, your legacy is secure!!!

[harmonicon]

22. +1

I don't know what more I could add... maybe something about striking the death knell for democracy in the US.

[yurbud]

36. I heard her on NPR's FRESH AIR a few weeks back and she REFUSED to discuss any court decision

I'm not sure why Terry Gross still had her on. She couldn't fill a whole hour with which justices don't wear underpants under their robes and whose farts are smelliest.

[DeSwiss]

93. ''....whose farts are smelliest.'' = Scalia (garlic) :-| n/t

[yurbud]

108. between him and Clarence Thomas, they could do this scene from the Klumps:

Alito would be the wild card and Roberts would be the one pretending to be offended:

[Delphinus]

110. I heard that interview ...

and could not believe how horrid it was. She was really kind of mean.

[yurbud]

111. that's the impression I got too, and kind of self-important.

[Katashi_itto]

43. I will be having some Margert Thatcher Deathcake when you finally snuff it Sandra.

[ZRT2209]

59. don't go looking for absolution now, from us

[AnotherMcIntosh]

62. She's not. She's speaking to her colleagues who sit on the bench at levels lower than the

Supreme Court and who have privately critized her actions.

[beac]

2. Eff you, Sandy!

Everyone knows you were a devoted Bushie. Trying to distance yourself from his vile legacy isn't going to work. You'll go down in infamy just like him.

[yurbud]

80. every judge and lawyer that enabled Bush reminds me of the judges in

THE LAST DAYS OF SOPHIE SCHOLL

[Sekhmets Daughter]

3. A despicable decision rendered by a still despicable person.

She should be apologizing all around the world for her decision to vote her political party preference. Then burnt at the stake.

[kairos12]

29. Totally agree

She sold out our democracy. Cost the lives of tens of thousands. She is beyond vile.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

35. I live in Palm Beach Cty., FL...

Land of the Hanging Chad.... There are few people I detest more than O'Connor.

[Jokerman]

4. What a worthless piece of shit.

She knew it was bad law at the time but she went along for political reasons.

Now she has "regrets". yea right.

[Newest Reality]

5. Having travelled to the

parallel universe that emerged from the bifurcation point of that election, I can say its not perfect, but we are doing rather well there, and, by comparison to this one, we are going great!

I don't want to spoil this branch of reality much more than it already is, but imagine what it would be like if the opposite of what Bush did was the case in almost every decision that was made by his handlers. Gore did make mistakes and wasn't always progressive, but damn, you'd just have to see this for yourself to believe it.

[JusticeForAll]

19. Where can I get a one-way ticket?

Thank you for your post.

[Blandocyte]

20. If you go back, say Hi to Walternate for me

if you're Fringey.

[DeSwiss]

94. ;-)

[samsingh]

6. not good enough sandra - you are disgusting and your shameful

deed led to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

you made it clear that you wanted a repug president by your own words

[loudsue]

7. ROFLMAO

Gee. Ya think it might have been a bad decision?

[Paladin]

8. No "Better Late Than Never" redemption for you, Justice O'Connor.

The damage is done, for now and all time. Thanks for nothing.

[spooky3]

9. The best sentence: "If nothing else, Bush v. Gore demonstrates how justices who are determined to

reach a certain result are capable of bending both the law and their own prior jurisprudence in order to achieve it."

Talk about judicial activism...

[Myrina]

26. That stuck in my craw, too ...

.... especially after seeing Fat Tony sitting on Billo's lap at the Correspondents Dinner Saturday night.



They really need to be reigned in from having ANY kind of opinion other than merits of the law.

[gateley]

10. That vote changed the entire WORLD. It's mind boggling to think of it.

Iraq, Afghanistan, losing civil liberties in the name of "homeland security", the DEBT...

It was the end of our world as we knew it.

[tblue]

51. And now the US tortures!!!

Ugh! Things will never be the same.

[Coyotl]

11. Spinning history without telling the truth, they actually stole the Presidency from the People

and they knew exactly what they were doing, being Republican political activists!!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

34. you're soooo right

So damn right on.

Drives me crazy when I hear people --most people, really; not just the useful idiots, but intelligent professionals and colleagues--who don't have any idea of how polluted the CONservative repukes are.



So, ms. O'Connor is thinking it all over now....and her concern is "it upset the public"??!!?1!

Really? Is that all?

Glad she's concerned about the little people and our sensibilities. Such noblesse oblige

[neversaydie]

96. exactly!

they knew what they were doing. BIG stain on "the high court of the land"

[AnnieK401]

12. OH now she says so!

Great.

[Botany]

13. Way to go Sandy Day!

Last edited Mon Apr 29, 2013, 11:30 AM - Edit history (1)

Thanx Sandy for the following things made possible by bush v Gore:



9/11 ..... Al Gore wouldn't have taken a month's vacation after the 8/6/2001 PDB
War in Afghanistan
War in Iraq
Surplus into a deficit thanx to tax cuts for the rich, an unfunded drug plan, two wars run "off the books" and crashing the American economy
Big Branch Mine in WV explosion and deaths .... W put the head of Massey energy in charge of the dept. of mine safety
An oil disaster in the gulf of Mexico ..... thanx Dick Cheney's energy task force ..... no need for that extra safety cut off switches
Torture
Spying
Ohio 2004
Don siegleman in jail (Rove)
Bush drunk ...... Scotland, Germany, S. America, last press conference, the 2008 Olympics (made me a proud America)
a statue of a shoe in Iraq in honor to the shoes that were pitched @ W
Jeff Gannon ....... can you imagine if Bill Clinton or Obama had a male prostitute pretending to be a reporter and spending nights @ the White House
Val Plame ...... more WMDs and God knows how many killed
Cheney shooting a man in the face after drinking
Massive outsourcing
dropping 750,000 jobs per month
a massive kill of wild run pacific salmon
Halliburton going from looking @ bankruptcy to being worth billion ..... and after looting the US treasury they split to the UAE
Fucking Rummy, Condi, Wolfowitz, doug Faith, and tons of other shits that now should be jail because of war crimes
Blackwater
doing nothing about Global warming
Gay bashing for politics
Katrina and the response ...... Katrina hit the Gulf 2,000 dead and now over time 6,000 dead ....... Sandy hitting a much more populated area 100 dead ...... grown ups back in charge
Osama extra years of life
I have to stop ..... i could keep on and on

Edit ...... 22 suicides per day by vets ..... http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/01/veterans-suicide/1883329/

[BlueCaliDem]

23. + 1000. Excellent post! eom

[tallahasseedem]

30. +1

Amazing post!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

37. thank you. you should mail this to her. And a few LTTE's. n/t

[pearl]

76. You're saying exactly what I feel

I have been saying for years that Sanra Day's entire "legacy" is the Presidency of GW Bush and the Vice -Presidency of Dick Cheney.
I think I'm gonna be sick. FU Sandra Day!

[Botany]

77. The Gulf Coast Oil Spill is Sandy Day's Legacy

[Dawson Leery]

85. +1,000,000,000,000,000

[usaf-vet]

103. Botany: Great list that IMO proves...

... the oath all military enlistees take is dead on:

"to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC!

May Sandra Day O'Connor suffer the same hatred that Jane Fonda has faced since Vietnam.

And I ask which one did more damage to our democracy?

[Gary 50]

14. 9/11, endless war....

It's very likely 9/11 wouldn't have happened if we had a president who cared. Bush and Cheney completely ignored the imminent attack. Other than Cheney crapping his pants in his secret location the two of them were elated that they could use the terrorist attack to justify their deeply evil plans. No 9/11, no Iraq war, no Afghanistan war, no war on terror, no economic collapse. Yeah Sandra, maybe you shouldn't have done that. MAYBE????????????

[Raster]

41. darth "evil undead" cheney* was not crapping his pants, nor in a secret location...

cheney* was whisked down to the ultra-hardened command bunker beneath the White House so he could watch his handiwork safe and secure, even though none of the hijacked jets had any designs on the White House... but hey, everyone had their roles to play.

“Of course the orders still stand, have you heard anything to the contrary?”.

[gtar100]

15. I guess either karma or hell are weighing on her mind.

I couldn't possibly imagine that anything other than self-interest is at the heart of her regret.

[Liberalynn]

16. Its too late to say your sorry

Somehow oopsie isn't enough to cover all the damage your boy did to this country and the world.

[Uncle Joe]

17. Sort of like the Titanic having a "less than perfect" maiden voyage,

Last edited Mon Apr 29, 2013, 01:36 PM - Edit history (1)

other than that iceberg getting in the way, it was a great trip.

Thanks for the thread, Harry Monroe.

[Berlum]

18. "Thanks a pantload for 8 years of FAIL, Sandra" - The Citizens of these United States

"You and your Republican-crony Supremes wrongly saddled America with a Massive Dose of Republican FAIL, Corruption & Diaper Diddling." - The Citizens of these United States

[samsingh]

21. what a different better world it would have been had President Gore's votes been counted

[aaaaaa5a]

24. The decision was about hypocrisy.

The conservatives love states rights, until there side was clearly about to lose. Then, they couldn't wait to have the federal government move in.


This decision ended any real respect I had for the court. Today I look at the Supreme Court as a bunch of partisan fools rendering verdicts that help there own political cause. Its no different than what me and a few of my buddies in the neighborhood do.


Conservatives love to keep people from voting. From Jim Crow, to early voting, this decision to not allow all of Florida's vote to count takes the cake. Its one of the worst decisions in American history. And defies the "one man, one vote" principle to its extreme.

Its bad when you know how the court is going to rule before the case is even tried, simple based on the political affiliation of its judges. And this ridiculous game started with conservatives.

I hope she sleeps well at night, knowing that hundreds of thousands of innocent lives died because she put her politics above sound, constitutional, moral judgement.

[yurbud]

33. it also proved that conservatives only care about states rights when they serve their rich patrons

but if a state happens to inconvenience the rich, suddenly we need a powerful central government to set things right.

That goes all the way back to slavery. They wanted the states right to own slaves, but the federal law allow catching escaped slaves in free states.

[burnsei sensei]

25. None Dare Call It Treason, much-too-exalted madam.

nt

[jwirr]

27. Does she anywhere explain what the idiot court was thinking?

[struggle4progress]

84. "We can put our boy in the White House! We can put our boy in the White House!"

[Sheldon Cooper]

28. Well, Sandy, I heartily invite you to perform an anatomically impossible act.

Shame on you, and I hope you burn in hell if there is one.

[yurbud]

31. A million dead Iraqis and Afghans and four thousand dead American troops feel much better now

[navarth]

67. This.

[JDPriestly]

32. That decision was a mockery of the concept of equal protection.

Scalia, Rehnquist and Thomas. Think of the American servicemen and women and Iraqis who would still be alive today if they had not been on the Court.

Supreme Court appointments matter.

Obama has made some good ones.

[liberal N proud]

38. Hind sight is 20-20

But you were in a position to have foresight.

FAIL!

[rock]

39. No Refunds!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

40. O’Connor didn't do it alone. The Democratic Party should have shut the government down.

[WinkyDink]

56. In 1968, we took to the streets. In 2000, we took to our computers.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

61. In 1968, we thought that it made a difference.

[WinkyDink]

71. Heh. Touche'.

[yurbud]

79. that they didn't and on a lot of subsequent issues, tells you how much of a democracy we really have

[olddad56]

42. little late to change her mind. (if she had one).

[SaveAmerica]

44. Thanks for NOTHING!!

[santamargarita]

45. She regrets it? How about the millions dead and the

Last edited Mon Apr 29, 2013, 08:11 PM - Edit history (1)

fucked up World Economy!

[WinkyDink]

57. "She."

[santamargarita]

78. Thanks

[Politicub]

46. I'm refraining from expressing a string of explicatives

O'Connor makes me want to vomit. Who cares what she thinks now? The damage has already been done.

Florida should have required a revote, not a selection by the Supreme Court.

O'Connor's legacy is defined by Bush v. Gore. Imagine being a Supreme Court justice and all that entails, not to mention being the first woman, and all that you will be known for one partisan thing.

The GOP is the enemy within and will do anything to hold onto and increase its power. This includes corruption of our judicial system by packing the court with right wingers who brought us the gem Citizens United.

[Arugula Latte]

47. Sorry, Sandy. You and Tony Blair go into the "coulda been a contenda" pile of history.

But you torpedoed your legacy by attaching it to Bushco.

[neversaydie]

97. totally unrelated

but thanks for the penguin post. I needed a good laugh.

I'd laugh at Sandy's hypocrisy, but it ain't funny.

[Arugula Latte]

109. You're welcome!

The penguin smackdown is a metaphor for what the Supremes did to U.S. democracy in 2000.

[Marrah_G]

48. Well, it's a little late , but glad you realize it now.

I cringe at thinking how much that one vote has changed our country and the entire planet.

[Orsino]

49. If only there were a panel of legal experts somewhere...

...trained to spot partisan whining not worthy of a high court's time.

[GoCubsGo]

50. Rot in Hell, you old hag.

On behalf of the millions of us who have had our lives ruined one way or another thanks to you, I say take your guilty feelings and stick them where the sun don't shine, you vile, nasty woman.

[neversaydie]

98. got that right

you go Grumpy Cat

[Laelth]

52. She has been regretting that vote for some time now. Old news. n/t

-Laelth

[Spitfire of ATJ]

53. On the bright side, you taught every kid in America how many justices are on the court...

They've all grown up hearing "by a 5 to 4 decision".

[WinkyDink]

54. FH&THSRIO.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

55. K&R nt

[sofa king]

58. Too late, SDO.

Even though you spent your entire life studying the law, even though you spent years on the highest bench, you'll have a one-case biography for as long as anyone cares to remember you.

That was the most important thing you did, and by doing it you made a farce of the rule of law, so nobody has to give a shit what else you did. Go say sorry someplace where a hundred million Americans are not worse off for your decision.

I'm going to wait a couple of decades, then spray paint "Bush v Gore" on your tombstone, because that's all the epitaph you deserve.

[Gregorian]

60. If it's a matter of decision making, I wonder what else they've done wrong.

Aside from things like Citizens United.

It sounds to me like we have some really stupid people on the court. But of course that isn't the case. So they must have done it on purpose for a reason. And that is unforgivable.

[cascadiance]

63. I don't trust her... She's already complained about SCOTUS's decisions on campaign financing...

... and yet it was her law firm that helped lead the fight in Arizona to effectively shut down public campaign financing there after she left the court.

Oh... She's so concerned about Citizen's United and other decisions made with Alito on the court after she left....

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/06/27/sandra_day_o_connor_worries_about_scotus_s_new_tack_on_campaign_finance.html

And read this article here on what happened in Arizona about the same time she was complaining about this.

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2010/04/21/house-panel-oks-clean-elections-repeal/

“How can I be a fiscal conservative and take taxpayer money?” said Rep. Bill Konopnicki, a Republican from Safford.

The bottom line is that voters need the chance to either reaffirm or reject Clean Elections, now that it’s been in effect for a decade, Montenegro said.

“It’s something the voters have put in place, and it’s time for them to decide if they want to keep it,” he said.

The bill now moves to the Rules Committee for a constitutional check, then to the floor for consideration by the entire body.

The effort to end public campaign financing is backed primarily by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Government for Arizona’s Second Century, the lobbying arm of the O’Connor House Project, a group spearheaded by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Does she really regret now what she did in that decision of Bush v. Gore, or like before, is she just trying to put some nice "public face" on the decision that conflicts with that public image like she's done in the past.

[Hubert Flottz]

64. That piece of neocon shit needs to read this book

and so does everyone else who hasn't done so.

The Betrayal of America:
How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President

During the course of American history, wrongful events have occurred and certain Americans have stood up and spoken out against these wrongs: Tom Paine, Edward R. Murrow, Daniel Ellsberg. Vincent Bugliosi takes his place in this special pantheon of patriots with his powerful, brilliant, and courageous expose of crime by the highest court in the land. When an article he wrote on this topic appeared in The Nation magazine in February 2001, it drew the largest outpouring of letters and e-mail in the magazine's 136-year history, tapping a deep reservoir of outrage. The original article is now expanded, amended, and backed by amplifications, endnotes, and the relevant Supreme Court documents.

http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Betrayal_of_America.html?id=1-szWVxCua0C

I read it as soon as it hit the bookstores and I agreed with every word in it and still do to this sad day.

Bush was the 2000 curse of the millennium poured over our America the once beautiful, by the filthy five on the SCOTUS. A curse that is still sucking the life blood out of this country even as I type.

[valerief]

65. Go shit in your hat, O'Connor, you killing machine. nt

[azureblue]

66. To Justice O’Connor:

Your vote put Bush in Office, and, in turn, ruined America. Bush's destruction of America is upon your shoulders. This is what your partisanship did, and you will take this millstone to your grave.

[firenewt]

73. She was an enabler as were the 4 other criminals. You are guilty by association. You have so

much blood on your hands no amount of soap or spin can save you from history's harshest judgment. My you be hit by a bus and linger for days before you die.

I used great restraint in writing this. What I really think would probably get me arrested. Since I'm not a RW asshole, I wouldn't get a free pass for outrageous and/or threatening statements.

[Nika]

68. Thanks for nothing O'Connor

You and the SCOTUS really screwed this country up by making sure the neocons got their man in office.

Go to hell.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

69. Piss off, Sandra. Your crappy vote enabled that crappy man to put this great nation

into the crapper. You belong in the sewer of crap as much as he does, you crapheaded, craptacular piece of crap!

Crap!

[lunatica]

70. I have regrets too

You have no fucking idea just how much I regret Bush being selected by them.

[deutsey]

72. Well, that makes it all better, doesn't it?

Fuck off, O'Connor.

[Blue Owl]

74. I hope your Day O'Reckoning is coming, Sandra

[colsohlibgal]

75. I'm Hearing Pat Benatar In My Head

She had a hit song in the 80's called "A Little Too Late". That song sure applies for Sandra. A little too little too late.

The damage caused by installing this guy into the WH in 2000 is incalculable. It's on five of them. The five said a continued count would cause irreparable harm to GWB, not the US. Incredible but sadly true. Live with it Sandra.

In the end Gore really won Florida so he should have won the electoral college and there is no denying he won the popular vote.

[Marthe48]

81. About a million deaths too late

n/t

[Dawson Leery]

82. Sandra Day O'Connor is NOTHING to the women's rights movement.

She let that piece of f**king horse s**t into the Whitehouse.
The "christian" taliban was empowered by Bush & co. Now they are trying to take the country into the dark ages of Europe.

[struggle4progress]

83. "oops! heh-heh! sorry!"

[life long demo]

86. Just wanted to add my "you're too late Sandra"

Damage has been done, thoroughly, to this country and to the world. No absolution for you. You have blood on your hands from the people who were killed because of Bush's war, you have the lives of men, women and children on your hands for the economic collapse caused by Bush & his admin.

[tabasco]

87. Sorry ass corrupt asshole

recants after democracy is destroyed and hundreds of thousands of lives lost.

[awoke_in_2003]

88. Sandy, see me waving one finger at you?...

No, I am not saying you're number one.

[Tx4obama]

89. Kick! n/t

[Skittles]

90. no amount of regret will wash the blood off her hands

she is DISGUSTING

[onehandle]

91. Sorry Sandy. You selected our President over the will of the people and will burn in Hell for it.

Enjoy your lava enemas.

[rhett o rick]

92. Dear Sandra, may you rot in hell. nm

[LAGC]

95. As mediocre as Gore was...

I have no doubt we would be an entirely different country today had he been in charge for those 8 horrible years.

Not only would 9-11 likely not happened, but we'd still have a balanced budget today, not many trillions more in debt, I have no doubt.

May the chains of burden of guilt weigh heavily on you, Ms. O'Connor... you really are something.

[Kolesar]

101. DU was founded as a response to the usurpation of President Gore

Our favorite candidate does not need any qualifying adjective like you gave him.

[In_The_Wind]

100. Not funny

[PATRICK]

102. SCOTUS fook the hit

to quickly get Bush in. I believe it was poised, granted a Gore "squeaker" on recovering a fraction of his plurality(part of the stolen votes, not the recognized victory) to make the electoral tipping point in Florida.

Florida had already certified and chosen an electoral slate. The Congress was GOP and poised to give Bush the "win". At best, given no support at all by the media and lukewarm by his own party leadership, Gore might have made some of own case to SCOTUS on perhaps some more crucial, mindbending Constitutional issues. It was easier for SCOTUS to head that off with a quick and dirty beheading of a quick and dirty election.

As if frustrated in its destiny to quaff the full cup of shame in sealing a stolen election for Bush, Congress has been working non stop to earn its own place of ignonimy.

Old hacks with a sudden stroke of limited conscience are beyond disgusting and are uniformly impotent to do good much less repair any of the harm caused by their criminal actions. The scale of their responsibility precludes this pitiful display from being anything other than a media charade that is taken seriously only by an equally treacherous and shamed MSM. In America only the celebrity elite are forgiven, take it for granted and parade their "suffering" in front of their victims. Even with gossipy bonhomme humor thrown in.

[DFW]

104. How many lives were diminished, ruined, or snuffed out by her decision?

Millions? Tens of millions? I wonder if she has even the slightest notion of the dimension of the negative effect on the world her decision had?

[mountain grammy]

105. Will confession save SDO from hell.. no way!

What began in 1982 was completed in 2000. A new American Revolution, the rich against the poor.

[PADemD]

106. Is there a Supreme Court room at the Bush Library?

[Maineman]

107. She messed up big time, but she was not alone.

And, more broadly, she was certainly not the worst of the 5.