Strange Supremes

Something strange is going on in the Supreme Court today. This is the first day of oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare by its detractors.The Obama team had argued at the trial courts that it was too soon to rule, since no one had been forced to pay a penalty yet. This "no harm, no foul" rule would keep the case from the courts until the first person was forced to pay a penalty for not purchasing health insurance, probably in 2015. If the Court wants to go with this, they can just kick the can down the road for a few years.

The strange part is that the Obama forces dropped this argument from its appeal some time ago, saying "Oh, never mind." The Supremes, on their own, decided to hear about it, and appointed a Mr. Robert Long to brief and present this issue. One might think that they would just as soon dismiss the case on this procedural ground, to avoid ruling during an election year. (Yes, boys and girls, they are political animals.)
However, once Mr. Long made his presentation, they jumped all over him. They almost made fun of him. He must have wondered why they had invited him to the party if they didn't like him or his theory