Justice John Roberts split the hairs and made a decision that confounded all the experts as he found reason to decree with four other judges that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional. Whether or not you agree with the result of the supreme court decision, somehow this man set aside partisan politics and ruled in favor of the "liberal" agenda. But wait, he sided with the conservatives in declaring that the ACA's mandate for people to secure health insurance did not meet the constitution's commerce requirements. It did fit in under the broad powers of the federal government to tax. He tried not to say anything about the merits or wisdom of the law. Such a fine line, such an aberration from the conservative cause.
Justice Roberts is a breath of fresh air, a voice of reason above the din in a political climate that has been putrefied by serious animosity between parties and among extremists. He did his job as a judge, not encumbered by partisanship, to find a way to declare the law constitutional, after the lawmakers had spent years and months of toil on a rather prodigious piece of legislation. He did not cave to pressure on one side or the other. He worked it out.
Isn't this what governing is about... working it out...what congressional representatives ought to be doing...what the American people want to happen? It's the opposite of what has been happening for the last 20 or so years in congress and in the country. It takes us by surprise, when a person actually looks objectively at things, and gives an honest answer instead of the party line. Hip, hip, hooray for Justice John Roberts, who making an analogy to a baseball umpire, said during his confirmation hearing: "[I]t's my job to call balls and strikes, and not to pitch or bat."[18] John Roberts had the courage to do his job as a judge rather than a partisan, and he deserves high praise, not second guessing for his action.
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