This was John Roberts' plan all along

[marmar]

This was John Roberts’ plan all along
The chief justice has declared that the Court is not political. The facts — and his own history — say otherwise

By David Daley
Contributing Writer
Published May 9, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Maybe John Roberts is getting uneasy that the American people are onto him.

“I think they view us as truly political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do,” he told a conference of lawyers and judges in Pennsylvania. “We’re not simply part of the political process.”

....(snip)....

This immediate erasure of Black political representation — soon to become the largest since the death of Reconstruction — was the predictable result of the Court’s party-line decision last week in Callais v. Louisiana, the latest in a series of cases that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act. The decision will also create a massive reallocation of political power in the U.S. House, all of it headed away from Democrats and toward Republicans.

Roberts is a savvy political operator. He arrived at the Court from chief justice central casting, the Brooks Brothers-dad-next-door, and ever since his 2005 confirmation hearings, he has framed himself as a sensible midwestern institutionalist, an umpire calling balls and strikes. Roberts understood that it would be easier to enact his reactionary agenda if he could maintain the illusion that the Court functioned above the grubby influence of partisan politics.

....(snip)....

Just look at Shelby County v. Holder, the 2013 case that marked the Roberts Court’s first shot at the VRA, which froze its most useful enforcement mechanism. Wealthy donors on the right, centered around a little known but staggeringly powerful organization called DonorsTrust — often called the right’s ATM — helped fund, along with other major conservative foundations, the organization that developed the Shelby County case and identified the plaintiffs. Then they covered the seven-figure legal fees for the Supreme Court case. They also funded the Federalist Society, which helped vet the judges who decided it, and supported the conservative law professors who generated theories, legal concepts and amicus briefs. .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/05/09/this-was-john-roberts-plan-all-along/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Roberts is a traitor. Sold out his country, democracy, constitution for cash and fame.

[erronis]

3. Roberts is not a traitor to the Confederacy, the Dixiecrats, the fascist and racist theocrats

It's not clear that he is beholden to foreign powers, but it also wouldn't surprise me.

[CincyDem]

2. "We are not simply part of the political process." We ARE the political process in Trumpworld.

[mountain grammy]

4. Kick!

[OGBuzz]

5. Roberts needs to be impeached and removed from the SCOTUS.

He is a traitor to the Constitution and that is a crime. I'm sure there is bribery involved as well.

[Billsdaughter]

6. Yake a nice long look at the Democrat Senators

that let the Fox in the hen house:

Max Baucus (Montana)
Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Robert Byrd (West Virginia)
Thomas Carper (Delaware)
Kent Conrad (North Dakota)
Byron Dorgan (North Dakota)
Russ Feingold (Wisconsin)
Dianne Feinstein (California) - Note: While some sources list her as nay, the 2005 NYT and Senate record indicates she voted with the minority in some early procedures, but final vote was Yea.
Tim Johnson (South Dakota)
Herb Kohl (Wisconsin)
Mary Landrieu (Louisiana)
Patrick Leahy (Vermont)
Carl Levin (Michigan)
Joe Lieberman (Connecticut)Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
Mark Pryor (Arkansas)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
Harry Reid (Nevada)
John Rockefeller (West Virginia)
Ken Salazar (Colorado)
Paul Sarbanes (Maryland)
Debbie Stabenow (Michigan)
Ron Wyden (Oregon)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Clyburn: "I think Justice Roberts is gonna take his place alongside some other justices, like Taney

Clyburn: "I think Justice Roberts is gonna take his place alongside some other justices, like Taney who gave us the Dred Scott decision"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-05-10T13:41:45.922Z

Twins. History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.

— Mark Sumner 🌒 (@devilstower.bsky.social) 2026-05-07T22:42:14.146Z

6 years ago, I wrote that John Roberts, who craves to be ranked w J Marshall (or CE Hughes or E Warren) as greatest, institutionalist, consensus-building Chief Justice..
...would instead challenge Roger "Dred Scott" Taney as worst + most partisan-hack chief.

Now, no contest. Roberts beats Taney.

— James Fallows (@jfallows.bsky.social) 2026-05-10T16:20:34.318Z

Chief Justice Roberts has spent his entire career trying to destroy the Voting Rights Act. He’s been trying to stop Black voting power since he worked for Reagan’s DOJ.
History will remember him as an enemy of civil rights for all Americans.
Just like CJ Taney, another white supremacist.

— @bells110.bsky.social 2026-05-07T21:55:46.439Z

After 'Shelby County' 13 years ago, I wrote that John Roberts was on track to displace Roger 'Dred Scott' Taney as the Chief Justice who would live in infamy.

It's no contest any more.

Alito is a worse partisan hack, but he never pretended to be anything else. Roberts wanted to be "respected."

— James Fallows (@jfallows.bsky.social) 2026-05-02T16:58:46.980Z