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There is the letter of the law and there is the spirit of the law. To a certain degree, popular common sense is somewhat correct in tarring someone as a criminal merely from an indictment: by the time one has "committed a crime", one is long since past the boundaries of decent behavior. Laws are the stop-gap measure to contain extreme wanton behavior. (Yes, people can also be unfairly smeared by accusation, but I'm speaking in broad terms here.)
There is nothing more sacred in a pluralist society than abiding by the decision of one's fellow citizens. To seek to subvert their desires is to put oneself above the law and in some kind of self-proclaimed aristocracy. It's anti-democratic.
Many issues come to light here, including Jeb's lie that he was recusing himself from the recount issue.
Roberts' job was to find ways to subvert the will of the people, and Florida law makes this damn near impossible: there are numerous precedents on the books that are consistent and specific about "voter intent" overriding technical mistakes on ballots and the like. Regardless of the mistakes on a ballot, if the intent of the voter is clear, the vote stands. Gore would have won if this had been applied: those who had punched "Gore" and another choice, but then wrote "Gore" on the card were disqualified. That's against the law.
The principal issue above all else is this: A Supreme Court Justice deals more with the spirit of laws than the letter of them. That's why avowed "state's rights" champions like Scalia and Thomas were such villains in the '00 race: they intervened in a state process to force their wishes. Scalia and Clarence the talking Tool are also bigtime "original intent" guys, yet they clearly fuck us all in favor of theocracy; Roberts is a precedent guy (allegedly) so he will fuck us by upholding the illegal encroachment of religion into our government.
For someone who has a private agenda and prides himself on semantic maneuvering to get his way, Roberts is the sinner of the worst kind: one who completely avoids the spirit of the law for personal gain. Since the spirit of the law is paramount in the lofty realm of the Supreme Court, he is precisely the worst kind of quibbler to give the reins of power.
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