“It is not far-fetched to imagine that Roberts was mourning the decisive end of his vision of presiding over an institution seen as operating above the partisan fray.”
Actually, in light of his recent votes and opinions, it is entirely far-fetched to believe that.
If I was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and wanted to try to keep the institution above the partisan fray, I simply would not have joined the most nakedly partisan opinions ever handed down.