A well-respected judge who was appointed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Ronald Reagan says that he has become less conservative because of "crackpots" and "lunatics" in the Republican Party.

In an interview with NPR on Thursday Judge Richard Posner said that "right-wingers" were making a serious mistake by attacking Chief Justice John Roberts for siding with liberals and upholding President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

"Because if you put [yourself] in his position, what's he supposed to think?" Posner wondered. "That he finds his allies to be a bunch of crackpots? Does that help the conservative movement? I mean, what would you do if you were Roberts? All the sudden you find out that the people you thought were your friends have turned against you, they despise you, they mistreat you, they leak to the press."

"What do you do? Do you become more conservative? Or do you say, 'What am I doing with this crowd of lunatics?' Right? Maybe you have to re-examine your position."

He added: "I've become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy."

(h/t: Think Progress)