Douthat compares the Obamacare ruling to Roe v. Wade. Whereas Roe sealed "an enormously significant issue off from normal democratic deliberation," the upholding of the ACA was "not a definitive, argument-ending victory" for liberals:
Conservatives can keep fighting to overturn Obamacare, liberals can keep fighting to defend it, and neither partisans of universal health care nor critics of government overreach need to worry that the court is going to step in and pre-empt the entire debate. I have all sorts of problems with the health care bill, and I found the constitutional case against the individual mandate relatively compelling. But the solution to faulty legislation is usually better legislation, and the Supreme Court isn’t the only branch of government that’s responsible for upholding the Constitution. The specifics of Roberts’ umpiring may have left something to be desired, but given the temptations associated with his office, there’s something to be said for the fact that he let the two sides keep on playing ball.
Amen.
The Dish 