The razor-thin race for the presidency is quickly becoming an episode of Court TV gone awry. Can anyone keep up with all of the pending legal actions? Florida state courts, the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court are each intertwined in the mess left by the battle for Florida’s 25 electoral votes.

In the three weeks since voters cast their ballots, Americans have been led on a national vocabulary ride of sorts. Phrases such as &uot;hanging chad,&uot; &uot;butterfly ballot&uot; and &uot;voter intent&uot; have been bantered about quite a bit lately. The nation is learning a great deal about our political system – and that’s a good thing – but now we’re beginning to learn even more about the legal system and about the true character of the candidates – and maybe that’s a good thing too.

The election was extremely close, and for good reason – the candidates’ views were not vastly different from one another.

In fact, during the campaign, both sides struggled to make themselves stand apart from the other.

Now as the fight for the last remaining – and election-deciding – ballots continues in the courts, the differences between the two candidates is becoming more clear.

Simply because Al Gore has the right to appeal every decision doesn’t mean he should do so. The longer his fight goes on, the more frustrated Americans will be.

Monday night Gore spoke to the American people.

”If the people do not in the end choose me, so be it,” Gore said. ”The outcome will have been fair, and the people will have spoken.”

What Gore somehow refuses to admit is that the American people have spoken.

He’s simply not listening.