Hillarysworld

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts presides over one of the most closeted and insular institutions in the nation. He and his fellow Supreme Court justices send down their legal thunderbolts like Zeus from Mount Olympus unto the real world beneath.

That is why Justice Roberts' lament last week that President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address was "very troubling" is so unpersuasive. Among us mortals, being told the plain truth about job performance is considered normal.

Still, Justice Roberts was right in saying that State of the Union addresses have "degenerated into a political pep rally," but that was true long before Mr. Obama entered the White House. The nation has come a long way since President George Washington simply sent a statement to Congress.

The president apparently offended Mr. Roberts in January by voicing the concerns of many Americans: "With all due deference to the separation of powers, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend without limit in our elections."