Dana Milbank of the Washington Post takes conservatives to task for flip-flopping on the issue of “activist” judges.

There was a time not too long ago when Republicans decried “activist judges.” Now they’re lamenting that judges are not being activist enough.

“Unfortunately, the courts have been reluctant to exercise their constitutionally conferred power,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) proclaimed at a hearing Wednesday. He called on the courts “to check the president’s overreach,” and he complained that “the federal courts have read their own powers much more narrowly” than they should.

This newfound love of activist judges is the latest manifestation of what has been called Obama Derangement Syndrome: The president’s opponents are so determined to thwart him that they will reverse long-held views if they believe that doing so will weaken his stature.

Or not. Milbank might want consider the work of right-of-center advocates who have shown consistency in supporting judicial “engagement” in protection of Americans’ freedoms. He could start with Clark Neily of the Instiute for Justice.