Supreme Court? U.S. or Florida?

Compare the hearing before the Florida Supreme Court to that conducted today before the United States Supreme Court.

All the Supreme Court justices asking questions of the attorneys today were well-prepared and pointed in their inquiries.

Unlike its state-level counterpart in Florida, whose justices seemed unclear on the law and the arguments of the parties, the nation’s top court reinforced the commonly held opinion of that body as one deserving of the great esteem attributed to it by some 90 percent of the public in surveys.

It was truly a most reassuring demonstration of the reasons why the U.S. Supreme Court is our most respected, yet most unknown, governmental institution.

From discussing the U.S. Constitution and aspects of the federal code designed to implement its provisions, to reviewing the Florida Constitution and state law, the Justices revealed themselves as competent and capable arbiters of the complex and interdependent scheme of law and rules governing our republic.

It is impossible to predict, based upon a 90-minute presentation, how the court will decide on the important issues before it today.

Most legal observers, commenting after the proceedings, seem to feel that a unanimous consensus of the court is not indicated, and that a split decision – perhaps in a vote of 5 to 4 – appears likely, favoring George W. Bush.

Justices Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy and O’Connor, along with Chief Justice Rehnquist, could well join in a majority opinion holding that the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its bounds by so clearly rewriting Florida election law

Such a ruling would reinforce both Article 2, Section I of the U.S. Constitution and Section 5 of Title 3 of the U.S. Code, which together require that rules for an election must be enacted by the state

It is not expected that, even with this ruling, the status of the post-election legal actions being pursued by Junior Gore will be changed in any meaningful way.

At best, barring some unexpectedly wide-ranging ruling, Bush could find himself with a 930-vote margin again, which would reflect the numbers at the time of the original certification deadline per Florida election law.

Such a result would leave the post-election attempt by Junior Gore to overturn the election in the same position as it is today, before any ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This is a good situation for President-elect Bush.

And here’s why:

The "contest" lawsuit under way, brought by Junior Gore to thwart the will of Florida’s voters, still represents an extremely uphill battle for him, because it’s near impossible to demonstrate that the county canvassing boards

This is the case being heard tomorrow before Florida Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls in Leon County. His rulings thus far have tended to favor the Bush side.

The phony "absentee ballot

Time is on our side. The clock is ticking toward the Dec. 12 deadline for the uncontested filing of certified electors, per federal law.

Keep in mind that President-elect Bush has already had his slate of electors certified and forwarded to the National Archives, pursuant to the Nov. 26 official certification by the Florida Election Canvassing Commission, as ordered by the Florida Supreme Court.

All in all, it was obvious that the U.S. Supreme Court, at the very least, went a long way toward instilling confidence and reassurance in the nation by virtue of the learned and dignified conduct it exhibited today.

But it’s still vitally important to communicate your outrage to our

They need to hear from you, through the above links, either to convince Democrats to urge Junior Gore to concede now or to show strength to Republicans who may be called upon to stand up and be counted, should they be so charged with regard to Electoral College challenges.

Also effective are public demonstrations of support for President-elect Bush calling for Junior Gore to concede. Be sure to

By exercising these rights in making our voices heard, we can ensure that every effort is undertaken to demonstrate that the rule of law, and not the rule of lawyers, reigns supreme.

E-mail Dan:

Visit the

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.

• Dec. 4, 10:00 a.m. - American Freedom Network in Denver, Col.