Nordlinger on the Decision (the non-Lebron James Edition)

Jay Nordlinger has some thoughts on the Obamacare decision and the legacy of Chief Justice Roberts, among other things:

Let me try something out on you: People say, “Wait for the next election. Settle this thing — settle health care — in the political arena, where it belongs.” I have used this kind of language myself, about various issues. But, you know? Every branch has its duty. We have separation of powers in this country. We have checks and balances.

The executive doesn’t have carte blanche for four years; Congress doesn’t have carte blanche, for any period. We do not elect a czar, who has four years to do whatever he wants, while the rest of us say, “Relax: There’ll be an election in due course.”

Remember, Richard Nixon won 49 states in 1972. It was one of the biggest presidential blowouts in American history. Within two years, he was forced from office.

If a bill is unconstitutional, it is the duty of the Supreme Court to say so. Every branch has a role, every officer has a part to play.

On the idea that "elections have consequences":

It is conservative doctrine that special prosecutors, or independent counsel (or counsels), are bunk. I’m sure this doctrine is right. I have been mouthing anti-special-prosecutor arguments since the 1980s. I believe them.

But this is what I get stuck on: How can a Justice Department, for example, investigate itself? How can people who work for the attorney general properly investigate him?

As I said, I get stuck on that. People say, “Well, sort it out at the ballot box. There’s always another election.” True. But don’t you kind of have to obey the law before then? I mean, you can’t stick your tongue out at the law and say, “You’ll have your chance in the appropriate November,” can you?

This one is so true, it hurts:

Conservative, or Republican-appointed, justices are always crossing over to the liberal side. We have seen Roberts. You had Burger, O’Connor, Souter, others. You have Kennedy. Do the liberals ever cross over to the conservative side? Aren’t their votes pretty much in the bag, rock-solid predictable? Isn’t all the “swinging” action from the right, so to speak? Conservatives are always “surprising” us. Do liberals ever surprise?

And finally:

As a senator, Obama voted against Roberts’s confirmation, and against Alito’s. He could never have guessed that Roberts would throw him a lifeline. I couldn’t have guessed either.

With respect to Jay's final observation, in 2005 then-Senator Obama said during Roberts' confirmation  hearings that he would ultimately not vote to confirm him because "[Roberts] has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak."  But in the Obamacare case, the side that won was the big insurance companies.  Interesting.