You don't need a Presidential appointment or a law degree to discuss the Constitution in the US. You aren't bound to agree with the majority in every case - in fact, it'd be impossible to do so with the contradictory opinions over the years. In this case in particular, 4 of the 9 Justices felt adamantly that the entire bill was unconstitutional, so you'd be disingenuous to say that view has no merit.

The decision itself is fascinating, at times both ingenious and ridiculous. I worry that it's split so many ways and so compartmentalized that the lower courts will struggle to implement its standards for Commerce Clause, Taxing Power, Necessary + Proper interpretations. But the pressing political concern is resolved, and the worst case scenario (upheld on Commerce Clause grounds) was struck down. So it's hard to get super emotional about this one, I think (although I feel that way about the Court almost always, except rare ones like Bush v Gore or Kelo v. New London).

The argument that was had in the public sphere over the mandate the past year has unquestionably been pertaining to the Commerce Clause. On that front, SCOTUS found that the law is unconstitutional. Then they found another argument that the law's defenders had abandoned after it was rejected by every single lower court to hear the case. In that way, Roberts was tremendously activist in his interpretation. But in using his vote to defer to the political branches on a question of major public policy, he was loyal to judicial deference. Fucking brilliant.

I think it's bad policy, and I think mandates to engage in commerce are unconstitutional, but had the program been announced as 'hey, we're increasing a bunch of taxes a bit and using the fund to buy the poor health insurance', which is functionally very similar to the core of ACA, it's unquestionably Constitutional. So if you're outraged after the decision, I think it should be at Congress and the White House for crafting the bill and selling it the way they did. Fight the policy battles in the policy arena.

Exciting round 1 of the draft (although I was out and following via Twitter, not actually watching the show). 8 of the first 10 D-men... wow. Pretty surprised Grigorenko and Faksa and Teravainen were all still there when the Sabres selected at 12th. I like what Buffalo did, leveraging their extra picks to get two centers at 12 and 14 in Grigorenko and Girgensons. By taking Girgensons at 14, a big center with no work ethic questions, the risk of Grigs not turning out, or going to the KHL, is lessened. Will be interesting to compare this to the 2008 Draft when Buffalo similarly lucked into a guy falling down the board to 12 (Tyler Myers) and then took a needed forward later in the round (Tyler Ennis).

Leafs to me seem to have had the most depressing night, from a fan's perspective. Nothing wrong with their pick, but is Rielly much better than guys who went 5-10 picks later? I expected them to take Forsberg once Reinhart was off the board, and felt like they could've traded down and still gotten Rielly or another comparable prospect. But of course, I'm in America and we don't get to watch Juniors except the World Tournament, so how would I know anything?

Pens got a NICE haul for Jordan Staal. Carolina isn't the sort of franchise that can afford to be flippant with their prospects, since they don't compete in free agency too heavily. Caps also fill a need with Riberio, since Laich always seems like he's stretching himself a bit. Now he doesn't have to be as much of an offensive player, that should help them.

Yeah as a big Spider-Man fan, who still really likes the first 2 Raimi ones even though they already show some age, the new one looks terrible. Offensive, even. This looks like a Twilight version of Spider-Man.

I don't think 300 is special. Maybe the visuals are enough if you're tripping but I saw it once and never desired to see it again.

Congratulations to the LA Kings on their first Stanley Cup! A major market with a largely forgettable history and the longest stretch of years without a Cup victory - hard not to feel good for the fans and the organization.

Let's see: They barely made the playoffs, beat a reliable choker and a worn down team from last year's Cup run in Vancouver. After that, they beat St. Louis and Phoenix. Wow, riveting. Those teams haven't been competitive since well before the lockout.

And now Jersey. The 4th best team in the Atlantic. Domination in those series with a goalie like Quick is no surprise to me. They haven't played anybody I would describe as an elite or great team. Maybe other people are high on the Canucks but not me.

So Quick has been amazing, the best goalie in the world is a title that changes hands every year. Tim Thomas? Hell, Ryan Miller was called that in 2010 when he was Olympic MVP and Vezina. Mike Smith was amazing this year too. Next year the chances that Quick is the hot goalie in the playoffs versus the field are necessarily slim. After seeing how Boston and Vancouver were beaten down after their Cup run, LA probably faces a similar fatigue, even if it's much less they're still playing the longest and getting the shortest offseason.

And the fact that the goalie matters so much should be a little concerning. There have been times in the playoffs where the Kings have looked really unspectacular in every facet except in net. The only other major sport with such importance on one guy might be NFL Quarterback and again, you have to wonder if the NFL has let things get too far in the direction of QB-protection and pro-passing rule tweaks.

This is the worst Cup since Tampa/Calgary, and after that one they locked out for a year. And when they came back with new rules, the game was way better. It's slowed waaaay down again. I'm not convinced that anything should be done, but I do think it's a bad turn for the NHL in terms of quality entertainment. And it won't sell in the US, whatever that's worth. Nobody in LA paid any attention to the Kings until the Clips and Lakers were done, and now the city with the highest ratings in the US for the Cup games hasn't been LA OR anywhere in Jersey, it's been Buffalo. The rest of the country is watching basketball.

Last summer, the NHL was coming off a great playoffs with a big American market winning. The games were great, and the NBA was headed to a lock-out. It looked like the NHL was due to rise up somewhat, with a new NBC deal as well. And now... the Cup is having its worst ratings since 07, when it was still suffering from the lost momentum from the missing season (and Ana-Ott doesn't sell too well here either). It's not the end of the world that it's receding, but I root for hockey to do well in the US. And these playoffs have been damaging.