The Wisconsin Supreme Court Hearing on Tuesday Was Compelling Theater of the Absurd

One of the curious benefits of self-quarantine is the fact that we get to hear and see parts of our government operating that, ordinarily, would require citizens to haul their lazy hindquarters up to various capitols and courthouses. This is in addition to CSPAN’s usual coverage of what’s goin’ down in Congress. (Hi, John Ratcliffe. You weren’t qualified last July, but you are qualified now? What happened? Did you un-fabricate your resume? America is keen to know.)

The Supreme Court is allowing oral arguments to be broadcast. (This already has allowed interested citizens to hear Justice Clarence Thomas actually ask a question during a session of the court. This is the judicial equivalent of Halley’s Comet.) On Tuesday, the Court was scheduled to hear yet another challenge to the administration’s new expansive exemptions from the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that, for example, Catholic employers include contraception coverage for their Presbyterian janitors. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg joined in from her hospital room at Johns Hopkins. Baller...