Were you surprised by today's Supreme court ruling on health care

[hifiguy]

24. Surprised, but only slightly.

Roberts is not a stupid man, say whatever else you will about him. He has talked about the court's "self-inflicted wounds" at length, Dred Scott in particular.

He's a Chief Justice and Chiefs are judged historically by different criteria than regular old Justices. He has enough sense of history and the need to preserve the court's legitimacy not to add insult to the injury of Citizen's United. His chiefship would not survive historical scrutiny were he to be a part of overturning the ACA and he would be remembered as the 21st century version of C.J. Roger Taney, the author of Dred Scott. The stink around Taney's name will never clear and Roberts doesn't want to be in that company.

This was a "legacy" vote by Roberts.