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Go Home The Oath, Done Right

THE PLANK JANUARY 20, 2009

The Oath, Done Right

BY JEFFREY ROSEN

Chief Justice Roberts fumbled the oath of office, apparently rattled by the fact that President Obama jumped in to repeat his name before Roberts had completed the first clause. This reminds us of the importance of pre-inaugural consultation between the Chief Justice and President-elect. In February 1933, days before Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inauguration, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote to FDR to ascertain his wishes about whether to recite the oath in full or simply to say, "I do." FDR replied, as one New York Governor to another, that he would abide by the Chief's wishes, and Hughes replied that he would assume FDR wanted to hear the oath in its entirety before repeating it, unless instructed otherwise. "I have told the Clerk to have a slip of paper ready with the exact words," Hughes concluded. FDR agreed and the oath went off without a hitch.  Roberts, who apparently rehearsed by himself, should've followed Hughes's example and checked in with Obama first.

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From Obama's perspective, this will be forgotten in a week.  For Chief Justice Roberts, this is a catastrophe.  Because the Justices are so rarely in the public eye, this flub will be the thing most people remember about him.  From now on, he'll be "the guy that screwed up Obama's oath of office".

In a way, I kind of feel sorry for him.

Actually, no I don't.

- Brent

January 20, 2009 at 6:07pm

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Doesn't matter -- the obedient-sheep who toe hypocritical drug-offender Rush Limbaugh's line will forever be averring that Obama was the one at fault regardless of the facts, as usual.

- kevincollins

January 20, 2009 at 6:18pm

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It will really hurt Roberts if he ever has to present himself as some sort of expert on the constitution.

- Jason1977

January 20, 2009 at 6:19pm

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Is it really that difficult to memorize? It's just a sentence. Besides, Roberts has been in the public spotlight before.

Roberts was flustered by something deeper than Obama's interruption. I'd guess he's not comfortable being upstaged by another HLS editor with real star power. The flub only redounded to Obama's credit, IMO.

- teplukhin2you

January 20, 2009 at 6:27pm

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I did think Roberts had something of a bemused look as he descended the Capitol Bldg steps, as well later when he stood to deliver the oath. I find it hard to believe, however, that he would be so small as to f**k it up deliberately. But you never know with some conservatives. Many I've heard remain shockingly bitter about Obama's win, or McCain's (Bush's) loss.

- tomeg

January 20, 2009 at 6:48pm

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They should have had a dress rehearsal, and I mean a dress rehearsal with Chief Justice Roberts and *all four* Obamas. I had a feeling that Roberts might have been thrown by being so far away from Obama...there was an awkwardness right at the beginning, before anyone had said anything. The whole world was watching! They should have met in person and practiced it. I've rehearsed heavily for far less important events.

- sdcrippen

January 20, 2009 at 7:21pm

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I was hoping JR would get a pass for being human on this - he's the quintessential Mr. Perfect, but he seemed to be plain old nervous like any of us would have been.  It humanized him a great deal, although I have always liked and respected him, even when I disgree with him strongly which is most of the time.  

He's a proud, top of the line company man, he would never have fumbled his big moment on purpose.  

- Wandreycer1

January 20, 2009 at 7:29pm

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My impression of Roberts is that he can be a kind of polished smartass, the sort who would just assume he'd recall the text and be able to wing it.  A bit like the student who maxed out his grades with no prep in high school and is somewhat thrown off-balance by the fact that college isn't so easy.  Unfortunately Roberts doesn't get a second chance (or maybe he does . . . )

- ironyroad

January 20, 2009 at 7:30pm

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Barry is now officially the 44th president of these "United" States.

Some call Barry The One. Maybe. But is he THE One?

I've made a list of things that will convince me he might be. I'll even give him a week to accomplish them.

1] my cat Opal is back with me again

2] Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are caught buck naked in a tryst with Rick Warren

3] Cable news channels announce Obama has inspired them to search high and low for anchors like Rachel Maddow

4] Osama bin Laden is squashed like a bug

5] George W. Bush is squashed like a.....well.....scratch that. Instead: George W Bush and his entire administration are investigated by special prosecuter Patrick Fitzgerald

6] Dick Cheney is visited by all the ghost of Inquisitions past

7] TNR starts hiring journalists old enough to actually understand that human reality is not just an exchange of words about words about words about words

8] Bernie Madoff finds that 50 billion dollars in Timothy Geitner's freezer

9]  a benefactor's will provides PBS with enough money to stop the excruciatingly insufferable "pledge" drives...forever

and finally:

10] I watch the news tomorrow and all everyone is talking about is how, for the first time ever, not a single child anywhere around the world has died from starvation

I'll be back in a week to let you know how he did.

george walton

- iambiguous

January 20, 2009 at 8:17pm

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It's really no big deal.  Roberts will be doing a good few of these in any case.

- selish70

January 21, 2009 at 8:14am

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Yes, a brief communication is all that was necessary -- no dress rehearsal required.

Dear President-Elect Obama, At the inauguration ceremony, unless you prefer otherwise, I will administer the oath as follows.  I will ask you to raise your right hand and repeat after me.  I will then recite the oath, stopping where indicated below for you to repeat the phrase:

I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear

[Your resposne]

that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States

[Your response]

and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States

[Your response]

so help me God.

[Your response]

Your constitutional options for diverging from the above are as follows:

(1) You may, of course, have me pause for your response at different places or not pause at all.

(2) You may affirm rather than swear.

(3) I may recite the oath as a question in the second person, requiring only an "I do" in response.

(4) Neither of us is required to say "so help me God."  Though customary, it is not part of the constitutional oath.

Unless I hear from you before the ceremony, I will assume that you do not wish to diverge from my suggested script in any of these ways and will administer the oath as described above.

One other thing:  I tend to choke in public appearances, so I will be practicing administering the oath for 3 and a half hours each day from now until the inauguration.  I suggest you do the same.  For example, you may be tempted to jump in after I say "I, Barack Hussein Obama" but before I say "do solemnly swear."  Resist that urge.  I will try not to pause at that point, although it's so fucking tempting.  Also, be sure to note where the word "faithfully" appears.  I keep thinking that the oath is splitting an infinitive or something, even though it's not, and want to put "faithfully" at the end of the phrase.  Resist that urge.

Faithfully yours faithfully,

John Roberts, C.J.

- jhildner

January 21, 2009 at 3:07pm

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Brent.

No one gives a damn about something as facile as this except for liberal douches like you.  Oh no! Roberts stumbled on the words.  But the obamessiah is bullet proof and I love him.  Therefore, obamessiah is a great great man and Roberts is scum.

Keep your obama manlove to yourself.  No one asked here, and we don't want you to tell.

- jwl2672

January 21, 2009 at 3:41pm

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[The doorbell rings at the end of the thread.  ironyroad goes to answer it.  On the stoop is a small squat red-eyed creature with purple tentacles making a strange hostile screeching sound]

creature:  aaaarrrrrggggghhhheeeewwwww mmmmrrrrrrggghhhhooooow

ironyroad:  Oh hello there.  Just a minute.

creature:  rrrrgggghhhhhfffffwwwwyyyyygh

[ironyroad goes back down the hall]

ironyroad:  Hey rozenson, poortomsacold, are you guys there?  It's for you -- jwl2672!

- ironyroad

January 21, 2009 at 6:50pm

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Maybe Barry and John did not misspeak. Maybe it was a signal to the terrorists, instead. After all, Barry's middle name is HUSSEIN. And what does anyone in here really know about John Roberts?

It's just a matter of waiting to see what the targets are. But I think we can safely rule out the White House and the Supreme Court.

gw

- iambiguous

January 21, 2009 at 7:36pm

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jwl2672 said:

Brent.

No one gives a damn about something as facile as this except for liberal douches like you.  Oh no! Roberts stumbled on the words.  But the obamessiah is bullet proof and I love him.  Therefore, obamessiah is a great great man and Roberts is scum.

Keep your obama manlove to yourself.  No one asked here, and we don't want you to tell.

George:

Are you old enough to read The New Rupublic?

Or do you own it?

gw

- iambiguous

January 21, 2009 at 7:39pm

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