Chief Justice John Roberts has a sad. Despite being really, really rich (his wife had made tens of millions, in part helping firms hire lawyers who’ve argued before SCOTUS) he and his family blended in seamlessly in the quaint island town off the coast of Maine where they have a vacation home. Not anymore! It seems while Roberts has done much to shield Trump from consequences, he’s now facing some of his own.
To be fair, there are still residents of Hupper Island and the nearby town of Port Clyde who are supportive. However, as we learn from Raw Story the folks there have, like the country sharply divided on opinions of Roberts. After over twenty summers of escaping the Beltway rat-race in DC for some peace and quiet and normal living amongst regular folks the setting is no longer idyllic for Roberts and his wife.  While “shunned”, the descriptor of the title of the Raw Story article might be a bit strong it’s clear things have changed. Bigly. Many of his neighbors there have backed away from him or even demonstrate against him.
According to the linked article the New York Times visited Hupper Island and ‘town’, Port Clyde where Roberts vacations. They interviewed more than two dozen local residents this summer. It seems from the interviews reveal “a community that once embraced the conservative justice is now sharply divided over him.” It appears the tipping point came in 2022 with the SCOTUS decision overruling Roe v Wade. Roberts, like other GOP appointees figured when the decision was published there’d be a few months of backlash and then most people would, if grudgingly get over it. Clearly they were wrong. It has cost the GOP plenty and the bill still hasn’t been paid. It might never be. The 2024 immunity ruling also was a major issue for them, as it is for so many around this country.
While those are the only specific issues cited in the linked article it’s a safe bet other major SCOTUS rulings of ‘The Roberts Court’ haven’t gone over well either. Roberts might have blended in and convinced the locals he’s a ‘regular guy’ for many years. However a string of rulings since Trump came along have exposed him for who many of us knew he’s always been. He doesn’t care about those people living near his vacation home any more than Trump does and they are now showing they have figured that out. For years Roberts mixed with the loberstmen, local shop owners and residents. His hamming it up by sometimes calling out “Oyez, oyez, oyez, the lobsters are ready” in a nod to his tenure on the bench was amusing to them. Not anymore:
However, tensions have flared in recent years, as protesters calling themselves “kayak-tivists” gather on the water twice each summer, a few hundred yards from his house, holding signs. Others stand on the town dock, and signs criticizing the chief justice – “Roberts Benched the Constitution,” reads one – have spread along local roads.
Some longtime friends who would never join a protest told the Times they have pulled back socially, and some former members of a local cigar club said they skipped this summer’s gatherings partly because they did not want to spend time with Roberts and his wife.
“From what I see, the barrier runs both ways,” said Mary Anne Mason, a friend and former law partner of Roberts. “It’s harder for him to feel comfortable approaching people — and vice versa.”
The hostility has followed Roberts beyond his summer refuge. During a visit to nearby Monhegan Island this year, people who recognized him chanted that he should be ashamed.
I agree wholeheartedly with that last part. Roberts SHOULD be ashamed but being a stone cold racist and elitist is part of his DNA. His wet dream would be a country which some leaders wanted back at our beginning – one where only white, male landowners, the very well-off had full rights. If you look back over time, while he tried to hide what he was trying to do via making smallish changes via SCOTUS rulings it’s clear the grooming he eager sought and accepted from The Federalist Society guides him. When he became Chief Justice he dreamed of a legacy of a Roberts Court in the history books that would be positive, having returned this country at least to our ‘gilded age’ of Robber Barons treating Presidents and other elected officials as employees. Most of us wouldn’t call that positive change but Roberts thought his bland, whitebread image could smooth over the sweeping transformation to a degree that the old saying about history being written by the winners would ensure he was spoke of in the high regard only a few Chief Justices are.
Now? DC certainly isn’t much fun anymore and hasn’t been for many years. However he had his quiet getaway where he could pretend he was just another regular guy. He actually pulled it off for a long time with the locals in Maine but those days are gone. Enough have pulled back from him and even actively protested against him that he no longer tries to do the old day-to-day mingling. He even (as the linked article notes) now requires an increased Secret Service presence!
Again I must say some wish things in their town would go back to the way they were. I can relate. My own small southern Illinois hometown has gone from a place where the late Paul Simon, a liberal lion would pull the most votes in elections to the House and then the Senate. Now the place is MAGA and such that I will never be welcome there again except by a handful of people. That is what Trump has done to this country. More importantly Roberts helped set the stage for him to do it, and has thrown gasoline on the Trump/MAGA fire far more often than he’s tried to quell the flames. People both rural/small towns and in cities/suburbs have had enough of not just Trump but his enablers and Chief Justice Roberts has presided over massive enabling of Trump.
I say bravo to those who peacefully sit at the docks, or out on the water holding up signs taking Roberts to task. Same with those who show up on foot near his vacation home. As long as they don’t create a loud ruckus (apparently they don’t) or engage in violence or property destruction I say have at it. If it spoils Roberts peace of mind when he’s trying to escape the city where he’s called out every day for the damage he’s done (and will do in the future) I’m glad his intended ‘respite’ is nothing of the sort.  Let him whine all he wants. He doesn’t deserve a moment’s peace and quiet!
