Liberals Still Love John Roberts for His Obamacare Ruling

Hailed by liberal press as "Brave Thinker" and "American of the Year."

In an unsigned editorial published today, the editors of The Wall Street Journal give a Bronx cheer to "the media acclaim cascading over Chief Justice John Roberts" for his decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. As the Journal notes, Roberts is currently basking in the praise of both Esquire magazine, which named the chief one of its "Americans of the Year," and The Atlantic, which hailed him as one of the "Brave Thinkers" of 2012, "by which they mean thinkers who agree with the Atlantic's liberal editors."

I'm surprised the liberal love affair with Roberts has lasted this long, but then again the Supreme Court hasn't yet issued any major decisions since handing down its Obamacare ruling in back in June.

Before the inevitable heartbreak strikes, I'd encourage the fawning editors at Esquire and The Atlantic to reread Roberts' Obamacare ruling. "It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices," he wrote. It would be a shame if the chief's liberal admirers were caught by surprise when he invokes that same principle of judicial deference to Congress and votes to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act or some other law they don't like.