Who here remembers Bush v. Gore? Who remembers the Brooks Brothers Riot to stop counting the vote?

[Hekate]

Who here remembers Bush v. Gore? Who remembers the Brooks Brothers Riot to stop counting the vote?

Well, we’re DUers, so anyone not actually in a coma at the time remembers the events very vividly and personally.

One by one the young lawyers involved with Team Bush and Bush v Gore rose through the ranks of highly respectable and highly right-wing legal careers. Bush v Gore not only gave us the presidency of BushCheney, but ultimately Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanagh, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. I’m sure when they get together in a private setting they all bask in the warm glow of a job well done — but under actual oath at their confirmation hearings they all had a specialized sort of amnesia about those events.

So, to watch them hem and haw today about the sacredness of votes cast, and how they were horrified at the thought of electoral chaos, much less whether one state could be the deciding factor in a presidential election — my mind inescapably returned to the events of Bush v Gore.

These aren’t your grandpa’s Republicans. They’re not even conservative, whatever that means any more. The rot that has taken over the Supreme Court is unspeakable.

I hope Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson are okay — this has got to be hard for them.

[malaise]

1. That election was stolen from Gore

I’m taking that to my grave

[Hekate]

3. Hell yes it was. I was sick over it.

[triron]

25. Florida Supreme Court had already ruled counting

Could continue. Why did SCOTUS intervene?

[Attilatheblond]

51. Just the typical spoiled kid philosophy: If mom says NO, ask dad, and offer bribes.

[LisaM]

2. I think about it every day.

I'm not over it and I will never be over it. What the Bush team and the Supreme Court did was essentially a blueprint for everything Trump has done. I think about it when I see Liz Cheney acting so high and mighty about democracy. I think about it when I see Roberts and Alito. I truly think that changed me as a person, from someone who was generally cheerful to someone who tended towards the angry.

I haven't forgotten that the seeds were planted by Reagan either, the divisiveness and name calling and the way they turned Americans against the concept of democracy when we ourselves are supposed to be the government.

[yardwork]

5. I have never forgotten.

[Bluepinky]

6. I agree with you 100%.

Bush v Gore, worst decision in Supreme Court history, brought us Iraq War, Citizens United case, widening of the wealth gap, increased climate change, and corruption of the Supreme Court.

Sandra Day O’Connor later said she wanted to retire under a Republican President, to ensure her replacement with a Republican justice.

[LisaM]

34. That decision came sharply to mind yesterday.

I almost started laughing wildly when on of the justices said (I am paraphrasing) "how can we have ONE secretary of state from ONE state decide the election for the whole country?"

I should probably start a whole thread on this topic.

[Hekate]

37. "Oh, you mean like Florida?! " said I to the TV machine. They put on quite a performance, didn't they?

[SunSeeker]

4. K & R

[Cherokee100]

7. I remember

I remember, the 'Stop The Count' mob. They won and gave us W. for 8 years. It's been down hill, pretty much since then. Let's not forget to give Karl Rove, his 'credit' too.

[Zambero]

20. Coupled with an arbitrarily inadequate time frame for completing the recount

Any subsequent disruptions were "insurance" measures to make sure the fix was in.

[niyad]

8. I remember, and I will never forget.

[Lasher]

9. I remember it like it was yesterday.

This is the reason DU was formed.

[Hotler]

31. Matt "he pummeled my junk at length" Schlapp. nt

[Silver Gaia]

10. I remember. I will also never forget.

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My life has never been the same since that dreary December day when the SCOTUS handed Bush the presidency. I felt like the universe shifted sideways and I slid into a different one where I didn't belong. I'm serious. I really felt that way, like there was "a ripple in the Force," and things just felt different. So, yes, I will never forget.

The Brooks Brothers event is woven in there as prelude to the disruption. All of it is still fresh.

And yes. It's why I'm here. I didn't join DU officially until the Kerry campaign, but I was reading.

What happened to Al Gore broke me. I loved that man. I believed in him. He had been my representative in government for many years when I lived Tennessee. He lived in the county next to mine. I was shocked and then devastated, gutted, by what happened.

I felt something very similar on November 8, 2016. These were traumatic events etched into my memory.

[Pototan]

11. Imagine that a state the size of Florida

was decided by a little over 500 votes. The recount was halted with millions of votes still to re-count. The Governor of the state was the prevailing candidate's brother and the Supreme Court, which voted to halt the count voted 5 to 4, with 2 of the Justices nominated by the prevailing candidate's father.

Jesus, it's not too hard to put a credible conspiracy theory together using those facts as a base.

I was 48 years old during the election of 2000. I remember it like yesterday.

[Native]

12. I became a different person because of that.

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. Thom Hartmann spoke to it at length yesterday, comparing that corrupt court to the current one.

The election was ABSOLUTELY stolen from Gore. What could have been GREAT presidency.

[ancianita]

14. I'll never forget those days.

That it was Sandra Day O'Connor who wanted something done "down there" and later, John the Pirate Roberts that prepared the Bush team for arguments befor SCOTUS. Unforgivable.

[limbicnuminousity]

15. Those goddamned chads

were the trickle-down effect of Reagan. History text will point to 1980 as the prelude to the "Howdy-Doody Times." Just Say No by Bonzo, Bush the Literate, The Cocaine Cowboy and The Orange Menace. JFC it's dismal thinking about it.

[scarletlib]

16. I live in West Palm Beach. I remember it very well.

Before that, I thought that I was politically aware of events in this country and elections in general. The little riot, the actions of the Republicans, the Supreme Court’s intervention changed me forever.

[Laurelin]

17. Bush v Gore changed me

I really admired Al Gore. I trusted America was a democracy. It was devastating.

Also I changed my voter registration from Independent to Democrat and found DU. I became politically active, went to protests, registered voters wrote letters and post cards met with my elected representatives....

But their side keeps winning.

[Wednesdays]

22. "Their side keeps winning"

In terms of elections, they haven't had much to cheer about since 2016, so take heart.

[Laurelin]

39. Thanks for the reminder

I'm jaded by my time in Texas, but I shouldn't be.

[CBHagman]

41. Please don't accept the media framing of Republicans as winners...

...because they've lost the popular vote in 7 out of 8 presidential races, and the one where they won the popular vote came when there was a Republican incumbent who conducted a negative campaign once again, but this time with the new term swiftboating, and there were two wars in progress.

[Laurelin]

44. Ugh i try to forget swift boating

They are some ugly ugly people. And while they don't win fairly, they cheat. And they're proud of cheating.

[superpatriotman]

18. That 'riot' was the reason I joined DU

Been lurking ever since.

[mopinko]

19. let's not forget roger stone.

the ‘brains’ behind that, and the whole f’ing 4 yrs of tfg.
he got a pardon, cuz he had a mission.

[barbaraann]

21. I volunteered almost full-time on the Gore campaign.

Somehow I think I sensed that it was crucial. Bush v. Gore changed me too--I've never been as much of a wife, parent, family member, or friend as I had been before. And now I have grandchildren, which should be my greatest joy but cause me to be possessed by terror for their future.

[LeftinOH]

23. Remember back in 2001 when President Gore's administration, following

dire warnings from former President Clinton, directed our intelligence community to aggressively seek out terrorist cells in the US that were planning a major attack?

Dozens of young foreign men -most of them Saudis on student visas- were expelled from the country and put on permanent watch lists. Coordinated intelligence efforts with our allies in other western countries helped to expose sleeper terrorist cells in other parts of the world.

Tuesday September 11th, 2001 was just another balmy, sunny late summer day.

Np... I don't remember that, either.

[redqueen]

24. Money is the problem and until someone has the courage to defang and leash the fuckers

things will only get worse.

[CrispyQ]

29. Our electoral process has become an industry. It's disgusting.

Problem is, the ones who can change the system are the very ones who benefit from the system. And they've successfully brainwashed people against the idea of publicly funded elections, IDK why. Brainwashing appears to have worked on a whole bunch of people I used to think were intelligent.

[malaise]

42. Yes but

All these years i have been wondering whether moderate interests allowed the Bush and Supremes theft with the pretense of fairness in the interest of US foreign policy - i.e. American hegemony dominated by MIC. Gore should never have conceded. The Supremes stole it for Bush and overruled states rights.

More needs to be done to expose the white heritage foundation for what it is - the new KKK.

[GoreWon2000]

46. It was about power and money

Big corporations wanted their errand boy in the White House for big tax cuts getting away with unscrupulous business practices and they got him with bushthief? BTW, what other options do you think Al Gore had other than starting a civil war?

[malaise]

48. So are you suggesting that the only way to prevent election theft

is civil war? I don’t have the answer. What I know is that he won Florida and the election.

[GoreWon2000]

49. You continue to not say what he should've done

What should Al Gore have done? It's time for you to say.

[doc03]

26. Its one of the things I will never forget. nt

[samsingh]

27. that was the day an American election was stolen by the republicans on the Supreme Court

and the start of maga / trumpism where the supreme court demonstrated that the rule of law did not apply to everyone and that their political objectives would outweigh the ideals of democracy.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

28. I was headed to Florida for the statewide recount when Bush v. Gore came down

I remember the Brooks Brothers riot and was pissed that the recount in Miami was stopped. I also remember the butterfly ballot in Palm Beach county that cost Gore a thousand or so votes.

If the recount had not been stopped, Al Gore would have won Florida in that in several counties were using paper scan ballots for the first time and sufficient voters marked that they voted for Al Gore and then wrote Al Gore's name in the write in space. If audited, these ballots would have counted for Gore and would have flipped Florida.

In 2004, I went to Florida as part of the Kerry Edwards voter protection team. The DNC had 900 or so out of state lawyers in Florida and 3000 elsewhere as part of that election. I have been volunteering on voter protection efforts ever since.

[ratchiweenie]

30. And that decision was so devastating for our country. Just look at the agony Bush put the country through.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

32. States' Rights? Not when our guy is losing!

The right of a state to conduct its own election without interference?

Florida, no you don't have that right! (because our guy might lose)

Colorado, no you don't have that right! (because our guy might lose)

Any others step forward!

[lynintenn]

33. What a different country this would be if

they had been allowed to count the votes.

[Hobo]

35. Me

Hobo

[Aristus]

36. The Brooks Brothers riot. A dress rehearsal for January 6th.

They scaled up their fecklessness, and nearly overthrew the country.


Bastards.


I served this country. And nearly got knocked on the head with a Scud missile for my trouble. And this is the shit that's happening in my own country.

God-damn them all to Hell (And fuck Charleton Heston too, while we're at it.)

[Hekate]

38. Your last line

[CBHagman]

40. Everyone should look at the Bush v. Gore chapter in The Press Effect.

2000 and 2001 represented a perfect storm of political pressure, negative campaigning, dirty tricks, and press failures. For starters, the press picked up the negative campaign talking points (Rolling Stone has covered this) and helped bash Gore as dishonest.

Then there was the back-and-forth about the vote counts, including that precursor of January 6th, the Brooks Brothers riot.

And when the NORC released its study results after the election, the media chose to use headlines declaring that Bush would've won the election anyway, which wasn't exactly what the analysis told us (there were literally dozens of possible vote outcomes, some favoring Gore, some favoring Bush).

Do check out The Press Effect to learn more:

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-press-effect-9780195173291?cc=us&lang=en&

[GoreWon2000]

50. Pro bushthief media did NOT follow Florida election law

As someone who spent 15 years working on election campaigns when I lived in Florida, I can say that the pro bushtief media did NOT follow Florida election law with their alleged vote count which resulted in the pro bushthief media writing a false headline based on a lie. Buried deep within the pro bushthief media reporting on their alleged vote count was the truth that they had NOT in fact counted all of the votes. The media had invented vote counting scenarios that did NOT exist in Florida election law in 2000 which resulted in all of the votes NOT being counted. The old saying, "garbage in, garbage out" applies to the pro bushthief media's alleged vote count. The pro bushthief media used faulty data parameters and got faulty results that they then lied about. The truth is that when Florida election law is followed and all of the uncounted votes are counted, Al Gore got the most votes period. This is further supported by another vote count that was done by impartial vote volunteers following Florida election law that also showed Al Gore getting the most votes in Florida as well as a post election analysis of the uncounted Florida votes done by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that found that most of the uncounted Florida votes were cast by low income African American women. African American women voted for Al Gore by more than 90%. In addition, most of the uncounted votes are located in the largest and most heavily democratic voting counties in Florida. It's beyond all reasonable doubt that Al Gore got the most votes both in Florida and nationally in 2000.

[Raine]

43. I will never foget or forgive that horrible election 🤬

totally stolen from Gore!!!

[AmBlue]

45. Like it was yesterday.

Last edited Mon Feb 12, 2024, 11:30 PM - Edit history (1)

I still think about it, because it changed the course of my life as well as the direction of our country. I've lived in Florida my entire life, and I was so shocked and appalled by the disaster that was the 2000 Presidential election in my state, I became a 24/7 political news junkie and election integrity activist. And I am still appalled, but we did manage to get rid of touchscreen voting machines in Florida.

I will never accept or believe in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's ruling appointing W as President. The whole thing was a sham, and I'll never get over it. I believe we'd be so much better off today if Al Gore had been inaugurated, as he should have been.

[GoreWon2000]

47. Our country will never be the same

There would be no orange turd today without bushthief.

[Think. Again.]

52. the rightwingers will be trying a lot more than that...

...to stop vote counts this time around.

[WhiteTara]

53. I will forever regret that I didn't fly down to FL that day and

push back.

[surfered]

54. Future Supreme Court Justices were involved with Bush V Gore....

The legal arm of the GOP’s orchestrated bid to shut down the 2000 election recount in Florida boasted no less than three future Supreme Court justices among its foot soldiers: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

[Hekate]

55. That's the kind of thing -- well, the far right in America takes the very long view, don't they?

Over the years here at DU that photo would get reposted and people much smarter than I would name the participants and point out their career-progress, all long before they got to the SCOTUS.

It is really breathtaking, isn’t it?

[surfered]

64. Yes. They concentrated on State Houses and the Supreme Court.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

56. I was headed to Florida for the recount when Bush v. Gore came down

I ended up going to Florida for the 2004 Kerry Edwards Voter Protection team. We had 3000 lawyers in Florida and 11,000 lawyers in total in battleground states. John Roberts no longer cares about his reputation and has become full MAGA. Harris Walz need to win and we need to get control of the House and keep control of the Senate to get ethics reform adopted.

[Hekate]

57. I'm very grateful for all your good efforts

[bullimiami]

58. That's what comes in not aggressively prosecuting to the full extent of the law.

[Gore1FL]

59. I remember it all too well.

The Brooks Brother's riot was not dissimilar to Jan 6th in it's goals. They rioted to shut down an official election event. Same shit, smaller scale.

[Hekate]

61. Except the Brooks Brothers rioters were better-dressed. Trump's only gripe about 1/6 afaik...

….is that his minions looked “poor”

[Jeebo]

60. Wanna hear my conspiracy theory?

Except I don't believe it is a conspiracy theory. I believe it's what really happened.

During the post-election media recount, the results of which were reported in the aftermath of 9/11, there was one Washington Post reporter who noted an interesting anomaly about the Florida vote. There were several different kinds of overvote ballots in Florida, votes for Gore and somebody else, for Bush and somebody else, for somebody else and some else, but it was the Bush/Gore overvote ballots that had something odd about them. The Washington Post reporter (can't remember his name) said that they were ALL in punch-card counties. That is, the counties where you punched a hole in a card, as opposed to the counties where you filled in an oval with a felt-tip pen. The overall number of Bush/Gore overvote ballots in the state was anomalously high too, but what was TRULY suspicious was the fact that they were ALL in punch-card counties.

What could produce this odd result? I started thinking back on election night, when while watching election returns on TV I kept noticing that there were a lot of ballots in those south Florida counties that were not being counted until very late, in the wee hours. And those were punch-card counties. And then I read online an article by a reporter for an Arizona newspaper named Sharman Braff who observed that if you wanted to fix a lot of ballots late on election night after you were able to discern just how many it would take to ensure that your candidate won, what would be the most efficient way to accomplish that? You could stack up two or three dozen punch-cards at a time and mass-punch them through the Bush hole. That would produce a lot of Bush/Gore overvote ballots, while leaving the Bush ballots as unchanged Bush ballots. To fix a lot of ballots in the felt-tip oval counties, you would have to alter them one ballot at a time, very time-consuming, not easy to change a lot of votes in a big hurry.

So Bush officially "won" Florida by 537 votes.

I truly and honestly believe this is what happened in those south Florida counties in the wee hours after midnight on election night 2000. I remember Braff said that over the Thanksgiving dinner table, members of the Bush family were angry at Jeb Bush and Katharine Harris that they let it get so uncomfortably close.

Two problems with my conspiracy theory: I am reporting this through the haze of quarter-century-old memories, and it depends on information that I received from only one person, which I admit does make it suspect. Nevertheless, I believe and have believed ever since then and will always believe that this is what happened. I keep hoping that somebody who participated in this nastiness will make a deathbed confession and reveal it all.

-- Ron

P.S. -- Don't have the time now, but late tonight when I have a little time I'm going to see if I can Google-search that Sharman Braff article. The online article I read included a headline or subhead that said something about "Katharine Harris with tweezers".

[Hekate]

62. Oh I believe you all right. That whole Florida thing stank to high heaven. The more people mention this&that...

…the more my memory is jogged as well. Remember the butterfly ballots designed to steer the voter wrong? A community of largely-Jewish retirees complained that there was no way they would have knowingly voted for Pat Robertson, who ended up with a majority of their votes.

Would love a link to Sharmann Braff’s article if you locate it.

[Jeebo]

63. Can't find the Braff article.

I tried, but I'm not going to spend any more time on it. I have links to it on one of my old computers that doesn't work any more. If I could get into that computer, I have a feeling those links wouldn't work any more, either. But I might have it copied-and-pasted into a separate text file on that old computer, too.

I remember reading a book by John Nichols called "Jews for Buchanan" about the butterfly ballots. I'm pretty sure it was Pat Buchanan, not Pat Robertson, although my memories are almost a quarter-century old, as I noted.

Another memory: Wasn't current Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts one of the Brooks Brothers rioters?

Like you, I've always thought that there's something about the Florida 2000 election that stinks to high heaven.

-- Ron