This ... Was Unexpected

Everyone was awaiting Bad News.  The Supreme Court of the United States - that piss-poor excuse for a bowling team from Passaic, New Jersey - was due to hand down a ruling on the Affordable Health Care Act, or "Obamacare."

(Psst - hey, Fellow Republicans:  Disregard the fact that Obamacare is actually Romneycare, our Party's candidate for President's Massachusetts health care plan.)

The focus of the case was the Individual Mandate, a provision that simply says everyone needs health insurance, so everyone should have health insurance.

So, anticipation was high.  The ideological makeup of the Court had me thinking that the mandate would be struck down, pulling a key pillar out from under the law.  One GOP candidate had even scripted and recorded four statements based on which of four possible directions the Court might take.

Of course, he or his staff stupidly posted all four on YouTube, which occasioned much hilarity.

So today, the Supremes got on the black robes and tossed us a 190+ page ruling.

And ...

SURPRISE!  SURPRISE!  SURPRISE!

Chief Justice Johnny Smiles joined with the liberal wing of the Court in upholding the Act, and the mandate, by a 5-4 margin.

I will confess that I have not read the decision yet (I'll wait till I have a few hours free), but it's likely that Fat Tony, Sammy the Weasel and The Dingbat were appropriately apoplectic in their dissent.

The decision surprised many people, but the Egg On Face Award goes to a tie for first in the "Whoops, We Screwed the Pooch" department, CNN and Fox News.  Both of these 'news' sources proclaimed that the Mandate was dead based solely on the first page of the ruling.

Naturally, the Right is foaming at the mouth, and is demanding that House Speaker John "Mighty Tan" Boehner immediately make another idiotic attempt to repeal the Act.

Which won't happen, Johnny-Mop.

Another segment is calling for the Chief Justice to be impeached or pressured to retire.  What fun!  Maybe he'll go this month, so Obama can appoint a new one before the election.

But I confess to being surprised - something that doesn't often happen, here in the Cloud-Cuckoo-Land that is 21st Century America.

I'd best enjoy it while it lasts.