Time magazine columnist and Obama apologist Joe Klein opened his January 21 piece by exulting in how "stunning and cathartic" it was to hear President Barack Obama begin to recite the presidential oath of office:
A man named Barack Hussein Obama is now the President of the United States. He came to us as the ultimate outsider in a nation of outsiders — the son of an African visitor and a white woman from Kansas — and he has turned us inside out. That he leads us now is a breathtaking statement of American open-mindedness and, yes, our native liberality.
It didn't take long for Klein to go from singing Obama's praises to cursing the outgoing president and the chief justice he named to the Supreme Court. It seems his Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) may be mutating into a new virulent strain, JRDS, which should last the length of John Roberts's tenure:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓And let it be recorded that Obama's first act as President was to correct Chief Justice John Roberts, who managed somehow to mangle the 35-word oath of office, misplacing the word faithfully, as in "faithfully execute the office of President ..." Roberts then mangled it a second time, Obama raised an eyebrow, and Roberts moved on, a bumpy beginning and something of a metaphor: one of the new President's functions will be to correct the mistakes of George W. Bush's benighted tenure.
Both Roberts and Obama, as a review of the videotape reveals, flubbed the oath, so the claim that Obama "corrected" the chief justice is misleading at best:
Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS: Are you prepared to take the oath, Senator?Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Former Sen. BARACK OBAMA: I am.
ROBERTS: I, Barack Hussein Obama...
OBAMA: I, Barack--
ROBERTS: ...do solemnly swear
OBAMA: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear
ROBERTS: that I will execute the Office of President to [sic] the United States faithfully
OBAMA: that I will execute [pause]
ROBERTS: the off-, faithfully the Office of President of the United States
OBAMA: the Office of President of the United States faithfully
ROBERTS: and will to the best of my ability
OBAMA: and will to the best of my ability
ROBERTS: preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States
OBAMA: preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States
ROBERTS: So help you God?
OBAMA: So help me, God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.
ROBERTS to President Obama: All the best wishes, Mr. President
[Ruffles and flourishes, followed by "Hail to the Chief"]
Here's the actual 35-word oath from Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which curiously enough does not explicitly provide a space for individual presidents to insert their names between "I" and "do":
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.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Not that it matters but
January 21, 2009 - 17:32 ET byNot that it matters but Bambi did correct Rogers. He corrected him by not repeating the first errant line that Rogers spoke. This caused Rogers to realize his mistake and attempt to correct himself. Rogers then mangles the line again whereupon Obama then recites Rogers FIRST line because he realized that at least that version contained all of the pertinent words. It is clear from Obama's pause that he knew that Rogers had blown it and pausing while someone regains their composure can be construed as a form of correction.
Any other nits pick?
I think it's hard to tell
January 21, 2009 - 17:41 ET by Ken ShepherdI think it's hard to tell for sure. At the time it appeared to me that he was just tripped up because Roberts gave him too many words at once. I remember when I recited my vows at my wedding, which I had written myself, I was really nervous when repeating them as my pastor read them. I was afraid I'd trip up and he sometimes read a lot of words at once.
Bottom line: Klein is jumping to a silly conclusion to get one last shot in at Bush and to fire a shot at one of Bush's arguably best accomplishments: strict constructionist appointments to the Court in the persons of John Roberts ands Sam Alito.
Ken, it is absolutely a
January 21, 2009 - 19:54 ET by balboaKen, it is absolutely a silly conclusion. That kind of stuff doesn't help anyone or anything.
I pick this one
January 21, 2009 - 19:01 ET by mom_roxI agree that Obama knew there was an error, but he responded with
Had he paused as a prompt for Roberts to correct the wording, he would have said one of the following:
Justice Roberts has said that he feels bad about this. No big deal. Just have a private do-over and make the video available. I'm sure both of them would feel better about it.
Obama flubbed first
January 22, 2009 - 11:43 ET by easygoerRoberts did not make the original flub. Obama did. Roberts started
with, “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear…” As Roberts was
saying “do solemnly swear”, Obama said, “I, Barack”, resulting in both
of them speaking at the same time. Roberts then followed with his flub.
Obama messed up the tempo..
January 21, 2009 - 17:48 ET by Gary HallWell, I think what happened here is that Almost-installed Obama jumped the gun. He was supposed to wait until Chief Justice John Roberts finished the first phrase of, "I, Barack Obama, do solemnly swear.." A quick review of past Presidental oath takers clearly illustrates the norm.
Instead, Obama jumped in while Roberts was effective still talking - interrupting the Chief Justice.
This changed the tempo, and Roberts, as had Obama, let his neves get in the middle of what was supposed to occur.
Once again - the problem here is that our MSM is out to make history - they're too anxious to defend Obama and too willing to attack others.
Yes, Obama jumped the gun.
January 21, 2009 - 18:42 ET by CKA in Red State USAOf course, the advocacy/adversary media would rather go out of business tonight -- now there's an appealing fantasty -- that actually report that PEBO got ahead of the Chief Justice.
But, hey, since now POTUSBO has always claimed he knows more than anyone about everything, he must've figured that his impatience justified his behavior.
Perhaps, though, both men were nervous, though?
Of course, the secular messiah cannot be shown to have foibles. After all, how then could he govern the 57 states of the Union he's visited?
Agree that after Obama interrupted the first line,
January 21, 2009 - 19:51 ET by Cape Conservativethe cadence was off and the rest is history!
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. ~ Sam Adams
Anyone who's been to a
January 21, 2009 - 18:44 ET by fitzfongAnyone who's been to a wedding (anyone remember Princess Diana's infamous "Phillip Charles Arthur George"?), or seen a whole host of live public events knows that the momentous occasion often affects the nerves of those involved. Chief Justice Roberts and President Obama were both nervous and fumbled the lines a little bit. Big deal. That Joe Klown, a coward "journalist" who penned Primary Colors anonymously because he was afraid of blowback would feel comfortable enough to make some snide remark about people who are infinitely superior to him is quite frankly hilarious.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
fitz...
January 21, 2009 - 20:02 ET by Jer"Chief Justice Roberts and President Obama were both nervous and fumbled the lines a little bit. Big deal."
That says it all. Case closed.
Jer
70 percent of the country has Bush derangement syndrome.
January 21, 2009 - 21:49 ET by respectfulconservativeI guess it is a pretty widespread disease.
rc.... That it is...to
January 21, 2009 - 22:25 ET by bigtimerrc....
That it is...to bad we couldn't eradicate it...permanently.
Our country would return to some sort of normalcy if we did so.
this was my response to an
January 21, 2009 - 22:48 ET by seaniepthis was my response to an email chain I am on, mostly libs who are upset we aren't all Obama lovers now, defending him about the flub:
there has to be a joke in here about "misunderestimating"
anyway - I agree, like it matters, that the justice screwed it up, and when you are repeating after someone, and they flub, then you flub, and we all flub together, its like dominos, not bho's fault
but ask yourselves "what would you say had it been bush?"
Yes, lets go there...
January 22, 2009 - 10:53 ET by SamI'd probably say we're all human and errors happen but the media would be talking endlessly about what a moron Bush is.
Betcha Obama had his
January 22, 2009 - 00:47 ET by TN MomBetcha Obama had his fingers crossed behind his back!
The stock markets tanked on
January 22, 2009 - 01:04 ET by TN MomThe stock markets tanked on inaguaral day; A Metaphor? Time could have ran that story.
Time chose the cheesy way!
Joe
January 22, 2009 - 01:24 ET by NorthCoasterObama inerrupted Chief Justice Roberts. The rest is history as they say.
The Messiah Is Never Wrong
January 22, 2009 - 05:49 ET by Chicagoray40I too blogged about the Messiah diddling up the thing ...twice he botched it reading back the wrong part and messing that up....and the video explains for itself. Yet the liberal Obamorons see what they wanna see and hear what they wanna hear, even when it belies reality and truth right before their very eyes and ears, they do it every day manage to convince others they're right!!
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. –
Albert Einstein
2nd Oath of Office for Obama
January 22, 2009 - 11:05 ET by SamThey did a redo of the swearing in. In a statement, White House counsel Greg Craig said the oath was re-administered "out of an abundance of caution."
That's pure bull. Obama didn't even put his hand on a Bible the second time so it's obvious they did it to obtain a "clean" soundbite instead of a stumbling bumbling one. Not a big deal all in all but not very forthcoming I'd say. A little vain as well.
Someone correct me if I'm
January 22, 2009 - 12:25 ET by PeskyDaneSomeone correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't the "real" oath done in a signing ceremony out of the public eye? Have to presume as much - the outgoing POTUS signs off the reqlinquishment of his powers, and the incoming POTUS signs on to accept the powers. The ceremony that everyone watches is just that - a ceremony. The incoming POTUS isn't giving testimony in a court of law, so is it binding?
Even a marriage isn't binding until the couple is brought into the minister's office to sign the documents that are filed away in town hall. When I took the oath and accepted my commision into the armed forces, I had to sign a contract.
Pesky Dane...
January 22, 2009 - 17:31 ET by JerI haven't done any research, but I believe you may be right. There was a brief remark which I heard from a commentator at some point prior to the commencement of the inaugural ceremony, in essence stating that Obama was "officially" the POTUS at that moment [I really wasn't paying very close attention, and am not sure of the statutorily prescribed "time"--but it does underscore your point.]
Jer
edit: I'm trying to think back, and it may have been at midnight of Jan. 19-20, but don't hold me to that.