After Chief Justice John Roberts' high visibility flub of the Presidential Oath of Office at the Inaugural, President Obama summoned him to the White House last night to re-administer the oath. While not necessary, I guess the President wanted to silence any critics who would say he is not the legal president. Imagine that! After the nutty lawsuits alleging he was not born in Hawaii, I guess he wanted to be 100% accurate.In actuality, while spelled out in the Constitution of the United States, the oath is a mere formality. The Twentieth Amendment means that Barack Obama became President of these United States at exactly noon on January 20th, oath or no oath.
Of course, there are now rightie blogs criticizing the President for not using a Bible in the retake. But the Bible is not a Constitutional requirement, nor is the phrase "So help me God". Nevermind that the Bible itself forbids swearing, stating that one should let their "yes be yes and their no be no".
I also briefly saw the swearing in of the White House staff by Vice President Biden yesterday. When they were supposed to "swear or affirm", rather than choosing one, they all said, "swear or affirm". It reminded me of the movie Animal House, where the pledges swore allegiance to the frat, and repeated verbatim, "I, state your name".
Anyone up for a Toga Party?
