The presidential swearing-in, a secular ordinance just like baptism

21 January 2009 @ 11:33 pm in Asides, Mormon, Politics | 1 comment

The presidential swearing-in, a secular ordinance just like baptism: To be sure it sticks, Chief Justice Roberts swore in President Obama again out of “an abundance of caution.”

After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on Wednesday night at the White House – a rare do-over. The surprise moment came in response to Tuesday’s much-noticed stumble, when Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted Obama to do so, too.

Don’t worry, the White House says: Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day.

But they didn’t to let conspiracy-mongers go away completely empty-handed:

The president said he did not have his Bible with him, but that the oath was binding anyway.

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  1. Mark N.’s avatar

    Mark N. on 22 January 2009 at 4:45 pm

    I finally heard a recording of the oath of office being administered, and it seems that when the line was flubbed by Justice Roberts, there was a long pause in which you can almost hear the gears turning in Obama’s head: he clearly knew that the line as delivered was wrong and he hesitated while debating within himself if he should say it back incorrectly as it was given to him, or if he should say it correctly (ignoring the incorrect phrasing), or possibly even prompt Justice Roberts somehow into recognizing that he had flubbed it so that he could say it correctly.

    At any rate, I’m glad it was done again, just so certain people wouldn’t be pointing to this incident for the next 4 years, claiming that since the oath had been done incorrectly it didn’t count and that everything done afterwards by Obama was not legitimate.