Enjoy the Victory Lap While It Lasts!

At first I was disappointed with the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare.  Then I realized that Chief Justice Roberts has actually done something very smart indeed.  He gave the liberals a Pyrrhic victory.  And he saved the Court from being accused by the left of being too partisan.

Krauthammer has a thoughtful analysis saying, basically, that Roberts has been true both to is own judicial philosophy and to the preserving the institutional dignity of the Court:

Result? The law stands, thus obviating any charge that a partisan court overturned duly passed legislation. And yet at the same time the Commerce Clause is reined in. By denying that it could justify the imposition of an individual mandate, Roberts draws the line against the inexorable decades-old expansion of congressional power under the Commerce Clause fig leaf.
Law upheld, Supreme Court's reputation for neutrality maintained. Commerce Clause contained, constitutional principle of enumerated powers reaffirmed.
That's not how I would have ruled. I think the "mandate is merely a tax" argument is a dodge, and a flimsy one at that. (The "tax" is obviously punitive, regulatory and intended to compel.) Perhaps that's not how Roberts would have ruled had he been just an associate justice, and not the chief. But that's how he did rule.
ObamaCare is now essentially upheld. There's only one way it can be overturned. The same way it was passed — elect a new president and a new Congress. That's undoubtedly what Roberts is saying: Your job, not mine. I won't make it easy for you.

See also the blog Universal Christian.