Did President Obama pick a fight today with the man who could well be the decisive vote in the Supreme Court’s consideration of his health care plan?

On Monday, Obama aggressively cautioned the Court against overturning the law, warning about “unelected” judges taking an “unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.” His tone was strident and his facts were wrong. It would be neither unprecedented nor extraordinary for the Supreme Court to find the individual mandate unconstitutional, and Obama’s health care plan passed with the barest of majorities and only after horse-trading that might be called extraordinary even by casual observers of the legislative process. Not surprisingly, the president’s short rant did not play well.