Take it from a DC insider...

...Roberts' "slip" was absolutely deliberate revenge. It was no-lose from his perspective: in the best case, the media report it as Obama's mistake -- about half of them are still doing so -- and, even in the worst case, with an astute press corps immediately pinning blame where it ought (a talent for which, natch, they're so rightly celebrated), it still mucks with the majesty of the moment. It's the little glitch that redirects attention momentarily from the star and says "hey, remember me? The guy you opposed?"; it's 100 percent passive-aggressive, it was instantly recognizable to me from a million workday encounters, and it so sublimely epitomizes the current culture of the federal workplace that I almost had to admire it.

Welcome to Washington, Mr. Obama.

(More soon. Currently digging out from a fairly impromptu four-day trip to NYC.)