It came down to a single vote, a vote we take for granted until it actually affects us. It wasn't my vote, or yours, or anybody's in Florida. It wasn't a vote from lawyers, the media or the court of public opinion. It was a vote from the Supreme Court of the land, and they got it wrong.

When the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to discontinue the recount efforts of Florida, they ended the most drawn out presidential election in over a century. What was the most troubling was how partisan those nine justices were in their historic decision. The liberals voted for another recount and the conservatives voted for an end to it. I never knew the decision on whether to allow a recount or not was a partisan issue. It seems like it should be a simple matter of legality. Is it legal to ask for another recount with all of the wackiness involved in Florida? Four judges said yes, and five said no. No matter how much you preach impartiality to folks, even the highest court in the land isn't immune to the partisan disease.

In all honesty, I did not expect the Florida Supreme Court to rule in Gore's favor and order a recount, and I was equally surprised when the Supreme Court chose to take the appeal. It appeared to me to be strictly a state decision, but sure enough, the Supreme Court exercised its right to be the final word. The final word was as split as this entire election. It was a fishy way to draw this fiasco to an end, but now we have a new conspiracy to fuel academia debates for decades to come.

I will not shed a tear for Mr. Gore, much like I will not let up a whooping cheer for Mr. Bush. Although this election was hotly contested and split the public into two camps, I was not looking forward to either man being my president. While Gore was gracious and succinct in his withdrawal, it would have been a special kind of torture to listen to him explain public policy to the American people for four years. While Bush is reaching out the olive branch to the country, he is already using subliminal tactics in his speeches. Before his acceptance speech, I'd never heard the word together so much outside a church setting. "Together, we will eat breakfast. Together, we will make America stronger. Together, we will embrace our togetherness."

I don't expect Bush to trumpet any of my personal beliefs. All I ask is that he not empty the national bank account. He has already cut back on his tax cut, cheap medication and social security promises (I think someone finally did the math for him). His goal should be to keep the country at the same lofty level it is at right now, and then maybe add a tweak or two here and there. He has inherited the most economically robust nation, and maintaining the status quo would be an accomplishment in itself. A single Supreme Court vote ultimately gave the presidency to Bush, and history will not be kind to conservatives if he seriously screws up.

So what did we learn from this election? The electoral college is outdated, but we won't do anything to change it. Our voting system is cryptic and outdated in several sections of the country, but we won't do anything to update it. Our Supreme Court is the final word on everything, but that doesn't mean they are always correct.

In spite of all partisan rhetoric, I am not too worried about another Bush in office. As long as he avoids his father's mistakes of war and recession, he should do all right. Besides, I giggle at the fact that Clinton will forever be surrounded by Bush in the history books. I couldn't ask for a better metaphor.

The Republicans have started their bragging, and the Democrats have started their grumbling. But we're going to be okay. America will still be the same. We'll still love baseball and hate Castro. We'll still blow up fireworks on July 4th and open presents on December 25th. We still have the same problems and aspirations we did before November 7th. This place hasn't changed that much in the last two months.

It's going to be all right.

Chris Jungle will accept Supreme Court rulings with a grain of salt.