To Any Lengths Mr. Bush and his party have made it clear to the country and the world that their greatest fear � the scenario they dread above all others � is that somehow, someway, all of the votes legally cast in Florida would actually be counted. They have demonstrated their willingness to go to almost any lengths to prevent that from happening. And that resolve was given the unfortunate imprimatur of the nation's highest court on Saturday when, in a 5-to-4 decision, the court ordered the hand recounts in Florida to stop. But the Bush team's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments this morning, is just one prong of the G.O.P.'s dangerous assault on the spirit of democracy that has served this nation so well for so long. The truth is that while Mr. Bush and the Republicans will be more than happy to accept a final Supreme Court ruling in their favor, they are already prepared to take extraordinary steps to circumvent a ruling that goes against them.