It’s now official: 28 states are challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare in the courts. For those of you keeping score, the following six joined the Florida-led lawsuit: Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Wyoming and Maine. Then of course Virginia is pursuing its own suit, and now Oklahoma is about to file its own separate lawsuit based on its voters’ approval in November of a Health Care Freedom Act similar to Virginia’s.

Sadly — if I’m allowed to stop being hard-headed and just shake my head in an “o tempore o mores” sort of way — the government opposed Florida’s motion to add the six states to its lawsuit. There was no basis for this opposition: the newcomers are for these purposes similarly situated to the existing plaintiff states and raise no new legal arguments.

The district judge, Roger Vinson — who is expected to release an opinion shortly striking down at least parts of Obamacare — saw through the government’s cynical ploy. He granted the simple joinder motion the day after it was filed and without waiting for a formal reply from the Department of Justice, saying “…I can imagine no prejudice that could inure to the defendants in granting the plaintiffs’ motion, as the second amended complaint changes nothing in the case except for the caption and style, and will not delay its resolution. Indeed, because of this, I will relieve the defendants of the obligation to file an answer to the new complaint and will regard their previously-filed answer as an answer to the new complaint as well.”

This train is picking up steam, folks. But at least one political question remains: Why hasn’t New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, darling of the Tea Parties and all who like plain-speaking politicians, climbed aboard?