Take Care

March 31, 2012

A lot of prominent Democrats are having fits over the Obamacare case.  I'm not sure if they're writing editorials to convince the Supreme Court to come around, are preparing the way for the new spin if they lose, or are just blowing off steam.  Regardless, some of the stuff is pretty funny.

Funniest of all are people like Bob Schrum and E. J. Dionne complaining the Court is acting like a super-legislature.  Most of their favorite cases involve the Court steamrolling the public--and I'm not just referring to classics from the Warren and Burger eras, but also recent opinions that shut down how President Bush (generally following laws passed by Congress, and generally taking actions that polled well) tried to prosecute the war on terror.

It's made even funnier by their knowledge that the Democrats were not elected to nationalize health care, and could only do so by ignoring the expressed will of the public, who threw them out of office immediately after.

Then come the warnings.  Not only will the Court regret overturning Obamacare (and there's nothing that convinces the Court to change its mind better than sneering at them--just ask Laurence Tribe and all the other condescending academics who wrote the first wave of such editorials), the Republican party will rue the day.

Why?  Well, first, Republicans will apparently own the health care issue--or at least all the negatives attached--if Obamacare is tossed out.  Not sure why this is so, but I'd guess the Republicans are willing to take that chance.  And second, if Obamacare is thrown out, it'll be replaced by even greater government intrusion.  Not sure why this is so, but I'd guess the Republicans are willing to take that chance.

When you think about it, it's amazing how kind Schrum and Dionne are.  You'd think if a Supreme Court decision against Obamacare helps the Democrats, that they'd sit quietly by and watch the Court and the Republicans self-destruct.  Instead, they nobly give the conservative Justices a chance to change their minds before they damage themselves.

I have no idea how the Court will decide, or how it'll play politically.  But I can't imagine editorials like these impress anyone.