You’re wrong, Hugh. 

You’re too quick to defend the ruling class. Of course, you’re not alone.  Defend the Constitution instead. 

It’s the job of the Chief Justice of the United States, that’s his title, to do his job. To uphold his oath to the Constitution. Radical district court judges intentionally cherry-picked by Democrat and leftwing petitioners (they know the politics of most of these judges as we do) are systematically attacking the constitutional power of the executive branch with nationwide orders, radical political and policy rulings, and picking to pieces the authority granted a president.  Silence is exactly the wrong response. Indeed, they’re to be condemned.  

Separation of powers is the heart of our system.  Look at the Constitution’s structure. Read the Federalist Papers. Read Locke and Montesquieu. And more. You might want to educate yourself about a judiciary run amok in Israel today. Not enough people spoke out when they could. And the elected parts of their government acquiesced.  Judicial autocracy there is now said to be a democracy.  In fact, you might want to check out George Orwell’s writings while you’re at it.  

Roberts failed to curb this a few weeks ago.  He could’ve stopped it before it got out of control. He did the opposite. He gave it his rubber stamp. His comment on the elected branches considering impeachment was way out of bounds (impeachment won’t work by the way; eliminating or defunding certain courts would be better).  He should still act to end this rather than lecture elected representatives. He can still actually do something about it. Judges aren’t supposed to pontificate about matters not before them.  If he’s going to pontificate then do so in a format where he can be questioned or challenged. 

That said, it’s our civic duty as citizens, for whom this republic exists, to denounce all forms of tyranny by any branch usurping the Constitution. That’s our primary power.  Free speech. To alert our fellow citizens to the threat.  To make our views known.  Moreover, the elected branches are not only expected to push back but have a duty to do so.  It is not the role of we, the people, or our representatives to watch in dumbfounded silence as unelected judges usurp our authority and a foundational principle of our Constitution at the behest of partisan litigants.  This is a republic, after all. Our allegiance is not to the ruling class and those who abuse their power. And we don’t need to wait for a higher court to rule to make our revulsion known.  We’re not mere observers of this government, we are the reason for this government and participants in it. The litigants and their judges do not stand above us.  Nor are they immune from our condemnation, especially given their motives and conduct. 

There’s not a single framer or ratifier who would recognize the legitimacy of what these congressionally created lower courts are doing. Not one. And they’d likely be condemning it loudly as constitutionalists are around the country. I’ve no doubt Chief Justice Rehnquist would be acting quite differently than Roberts. The four associate justices led by Sam Alito made clear they were ready to act and were stunned by the Court’s majority, led by Roberts. On what side does any rational person think Rehnquist would’ve fallen? The best Roberts could do was issue essentially a one-sentence order denying the president’s appeal, supporting one of the rogue lower court judges who demanded the president fund foreign adventures, without any explanation to the president or the public — an outrageous snub against the public considering the magnitude of what’s taking place under Roberts’s watch and before our eyes. He doesn’t believe he even owes us an explanation.  Perhaps he’ll correct course but damage is being done to the Constitution and the judiciary’s credibility now, which will be harder to fix as time goes on. And if he finally does act, it won’t be due to your thin defense of him, Hugh, but because of those who spoke up and patriotically challenged this growing tyranny.

You’re dead wrong, Hugh. The job of the Chief Justice of the United States is to uphold the Constitution, not defend every judge and employee of the judiciary, any more than it’s the job of the president to defend every employee of the executive branch or Congress to defend any employee of the legislative branch. Wake up, my friend.