SCOTUS, umpire? Nah.

Remember this?

Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules; they apply them.

The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules.

But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire.

Judges have to have the humility to recognize that they operate within a system of precedent, shaped by other judges equally striving to live up to the judicial oath.

[snip]

Mr. Chairman, I come before the committee with no agenda.

I have no platform.

Judges are not politicians…

That was Justice John Roberts’ opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee during the nomination hearing which would eventually result in his elevation to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Now then.

the Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the administration’s effort to combat global warming by regulating emissions from coal-fired power plants.

[snip]

…the Supreme Court’s willingness to issue a stay while the case proceeds was an early hint that the program could face a skeptical reception from the justices.

The 5-to-4 vote, with the court’s four liberal members dissenting, was unprecedented — the Supreme Court had never before granted a request to halt a regulation before review by a federal appeals court.

Just an umpire, huh? No agenda, Mr. Chief Justice?

You’re a liar, John Roberts. You are a dishonest judge. You lied when you said those words in front of the Judiciary Committee. You are acting as a partisan Republican whose friends have prevailed on you and your party to protect them from regulations which might cause them economic harm. I suspect you know better but are doing so out of party loyalty, which is the most craven of reasons.