Let it be noted that on Wednesday, January 21, 2009, President Barack Obama had to re-take his oath of office because John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, got tongue-tied during the original oath on January 20, Inauguration Day.
The administration said that the do-over was simply "out of an abundance of caution". I think it was out of flashback to the Bill Clinton presidency, when certain components of the right wing did everything they could, however ridiculous, to try to push Clinton out of the White House. Yes, we do remember the incessant bullying.
And let it not be said that no one thought the bungled oath might be used in that way. Chris Wallace, of FOX News (I'm trying to be nice here), was quoted as questioning whether Obama might not actually be president due to the fact that the words of the original oath were not said in exactly the right order, and that the issue could end up in court. Never mind that the president-elect becomes president at 12 noon EST on Inauguration Day, whether or not the oath has been administered.
This strikes me as just the stupidest thing, superstitious almost, or at least a manifestation of some sort of institutional Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Mr. Obama promised to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, or however the wording goes. That should be enough, without having to say every word, in order, like a grammar school memorization exercise.
But, you know what's going to happen? Someone, somewhere out there, is going to make a deal that the do-over did not involve a hand on a Bible.
Oh, and by the way, Chris Wallace...you're an idiot, a troublemaker, and a bully to even raise that question.
You can read the whole story on CNN.com
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2 comments:
Haha, it reminds me of the story of how my great-grandpa had to be re-baptized because he wasn't immersed completely...
It put me more in mind of the poor guys who had to repeat sacrament prayers over because they had left one word out somewhere, or had said a couple of words out of order. But it's the same principle. And, in fact, I was at a baptism once where they had to have a do-over not because the individual didn't go under completely, but because part of the clothes they were wearing floated and didn't go under completely the first time.
Personally, I worry about worshiping a God who is afflicted with obsessive-compulsive syndrome.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I'm trying to post here more often than I was able to in the past year or so.
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