But I will feel much more confident after the final votes are released and the opinions published. Until then, there is too much that can go wrong. A Justice may die or change his mind (note: I didn't write write "her") or other things may happen.
That our republic hangs in the balance with so much at stake and with the opinions of one or two men as all that stands between us and total disaster is truly frightening.
bray always writes eloquently and incisively (even in those rare instances where he's wrong... /g). Your caution is merited, however, and the danger of being overconfident is even worse than you stated.
The historical record of oral arguments and subsequent SCOTUS decisions demonstrates clearly that the impressions given by the justices questions and arguments in the hearings are not a reliable indication of how they will vote. Justices often use the hearings as a way to play devil's advocate in exploring AND shaping the parameters of the argument, even to the point of telegraphing or offering clues and leading counsel towards the argument they want.
In fact, Justice Kennedy did exactly that in his final remarks about the "special case" or "exceptional" nature of the healthcare issue. To me it was frighteningly obvious he's determined to find a way to craft a narrowly defined solution to allow them to toss a bone to a public that overwhelmingly opposes this legal obscenity, but still preserve the government's absolute control of healthcare.
Bottom line, it's good to hear some justices give at least lip service support to the principles of the Founders and the Constitution, but there is a terrifying amount of momentum and inertia from so many of those "institutions of civil society" which have been co-opted by the Left as described in Antonio Gramsci's "Long March" socialist strategy.
They are absolutely determined to close the deal and cement their statist control regardless of the wishes of the people of this country. If that entails public violence, assassination (whether character, career, or literal), or simply tearing down the whole edifice on our heads a la Sampson if it appears they might lose, they will do it.
Despite the ostensible "detachment", "objectivity" and "impartiality" supposedly guaranteed by their lifetime appointments, the SCOTUS ARE political animals, they DO respond to pressure and their own ideological biases, and they WILL factor into their decisions the possible societal consequences of cutting the legs out from under a century of statist centralization and consolidation.
If they were to decide to strike a blow at Leviathan government, they might or might not succeed, and even if they managed to inflict a significant blow, a wounded Leviathan might do incalculable damage as a result. They may, quite reasonably from a certain perspective, although not necessarily wisely, decide to split the baby and kick the can a little farther down the road.
I am not optimistic. A Supreme Court which can give us such blatant constitutional obscenities as Roe vs Wade, McCain-Feingold or Kelo vs New London is not to be trusted. We need to beware of taking too much comfort in their recent oral arguments, however comforting they may have been.