Democracy Has Prevailed.

January 23, 2009

Teh Crazie Continues...

We track it, so you won't have to.

From World Net Daily:

Barack Obama has retaken the oath of office that was administered by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at the ceremonial inauguration yesterday.

Legal experts had suggested the move because of the multiple stumbles and flubs at the original event.

Obama ended up transposing the word "faithfully" during his inauguration in Washington. When he should have said he would "faithfully execute the office of president of the United States," he instead said he will "execute the office of president of the United States faithfully."

True to form, it only took them 3 paragraphs to get their own reporting absolutely wrong. It was Chief Justice Roberts who transposed the word, as WND's next few lines show:
Roberts began administering the oath by stating the president-elect's name, but Obama cut him off before he could finish.

"I Barack …" Obama eagerly chimed in before Roberts could complete the first sentence.

Obama then allowed Roberts to continue.

"I Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully," Roberts said.[emphasis added]

See? The oath (according to WND) continued thus:

"That I will execute …" Obama said.

Roberts repeated, " … faithfully the office of president of the United States."

"The office of president of the United States faithfully," Obama said.

"And will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God," he finally finished.

But that ain't teh Crazie. This is:
According to a Fox News report, Roberts went to the White House late today and administered the oath, correctly, to Obama. Also present were a pool reporter and a White House photographer.

The Associated Press reports, "The president said he did not have his Bible with him [for the second oath], but that the oath was binding anyway."[emphasis added]

Yep - that's teh Crazie. If you needed any help noticing, here's Glenn Beck (h/t to Think Progress):


Of course reality continues to elude Beck. Think Progress, again:
Beck is simply wrong. As Slate recently reported, official records kept by the Architect of the Capitol show that Teddy Roosevelt did not use a Bible in 1901; and Lyndon Johnson is rumored to have used “a Catholic missal aboard Air Force One after Kennedy’s assassination.” According to his own letters, John Quincy Adams placed his hand on a constitutional law book rather than the Bible. Beck’s vaunted devotion to research must have taken a dive when he moved from CNN to Fox.
They didn't get the words exactly right the first time so it was redone, in "an abundance of caution" to follow The Constitution. Fine. Given the ridiculous Crazie ranting about the "faked" Birth Certificate, it was probably a good idea to get the words exactly right - if only to head off another Crazie. But now teh Crazies are up in arms because there was no Bible present.

But let's take a look at the Constitution. Article II Section I Clause 8 states:
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Please tell me where there's a Constitutionally mandated Bible.

Teh Crazies are here to stay.

4 comments:

Rob Carr said...

You should see the front page of Fox, where they're whining about Barak not taking questions when he came down just to say hello to the Press Corps.

Bush, I might point out, also often refused to take questions at times when there wasn't a scheduled press conference.

The language of the piece is pretty slanted, too.

I'd give you the URL, but that would mean looking at Fox News again.

etwilson said...

Slate has a good article this week about the history of taking the oath on the bible:

According to official records kept by the Architect of the Capitol, Teddy Roosevelt is the only president who wasn't sworn in using a Bible; he took a rushed oath of office in 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley. However, it's rumored that LBJ was sworn in using a Catholic missal aboard Air Force One after Kennedy's assassination. John Quincy Adams, according to his own letters, placed his hand on a constitutional law volume rather than a Bible to indicate where his fealty lay. Franklin Pierce "affirmed" rather than swore his oath on the Bible, reportedly because of a crisis of faith following his son's death. There are no known inauguration Bibles for presidents John Adams through John Tyler; in fact, there's no concrete evidence that those early presidents used a Bible at all for the oath.

Clyde Wynant said...

The use of a bible is pointless. As a non-believer, it is simply a fairy tale...so would it follow that I would have to swear on something by the Brothers Grimm?

Swearing on the Bible is clearly a "tradition," and nothing more....

Clyde

Maria said...

I thought they included a bible in the drawer of the president's desk like they used to in hotels.