[Update] For those that think this re-do was about appeasing “right-wing bloggers”:
The Constitution is clear about the exact wording of the oath and as a result, some constitutional experts have said that a do-over probably wasn’t necessary but also couldn’t hurt. Two other previous presidents have repeated the oath because of similar issues, Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.
I don’t think Coolidge and Arthur were fearful of Instapundit.
I wish conservative bloggers had such power, because if we did, President Obama would be proposing supply side tax cuts this morning. 10:19 am est January 22, 2009]
Cockstradamus vindicated in post-Oath declaration of a President-less America.
Less than three hours after the Chief Justice of the United States (John Roberts pictured) misplaced the word “faithfully” in his administration of the constitutionally prescribed Oath, my erstwhile alter ego issued the following comment at other websites and at here:
The Chief Justice flubbed the Oath by misplacing the word, “faithfully”:
The correct version:
“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.”
Roberts said:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will execute the office of President of the United States, faithfully…”
And the Oath is a constitutionally mandated procedure, so I can understand how Obama is thinking, “man, if we don’t get this right, I’m not really President.’!
Obama mistakenly called himself the 44th American to take the Oath. Wrong. Since Grover Cleveland took the oath in non-consecutive terms and is considered both the 22nd and 24th President, only 43 Americans have taken the Oath.
Sixteen plus plus hours later Matt Drudge reports:
OBAMA RE-SWORN IN
At 735 pm, Roberts administred the oath of office again to obama in the map room. Robert gibbs said the wh counsel, greg craig, believes the oath was fine Tuesday, but one word was out of sequence so they did this out of a “an abundance of caution.” “We decided it was so much fun…” Obama joked while sitting on a couch. Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool as roberts donned his black robe. “Are you ready to take the oath?” Roberts asked. “I am, and we’re going to do it very slowly,” obama replied. Oath took 25 seconds. After a flawless recitation, roberts smiled and said, “congratulations, again.” Obama said, “thank you, sir.” Smattering of applause. “All right.” Obama said. “The bad news for the pool is there’s 12 more balls.”
So, for 19+ hours, we know that Barack Obama was not President of the United States.
Was President Bush still president?
Or was Vice-President Joe Biden, whose Otah of Office was administered flawlessly the first time, actually President-in-fact? And if so, is that why we still haven’t seen the expected “international test”?
Now, if only President Obama could count.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
January 21st, 2009 at 9:43 pm
To my knowledge, Obama was PResident. Many news stations pointed out that he officially became President at noon.
Johnson was President from the moment Kennedy was pronounced dead…
January 21st, 2009 at 9:44 pm
This sort of nitpicking is absurd. The oath is not magic. He is President who is considered to be President.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:54 pm
It’s better to cross the “T’s” and dot the “I’s” than have regrets. I agree with the first 2 posters, I think it’s nitpicking.
Have to declare that I have had a good helping of “crow pie”. Just read over on Drudge that Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her name for senator after learning that NY gov David Patterson was not going to name her as Hillary’s replacement. Seems like she was not very popular in NY.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:56 pm
#1 and 2
The Oath is prescribed (see magic) in the Constitution. That is why Obama and two other Presidents re-took the oath.
Other magic words:
I do
guilty
not guilty
January 21st, 2009 at 9:56 pm
The fact remains boys, that I said yesterday that they may re-do the oath…and they did.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Mike, you certainly called that one right.Congrats.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Mike,
It is not the words themselves that make one married (otherwise there would be dozens of romantic comedy actors arrested for polygamy), but the act of the will, expressed in public. It is the intent and meaning of the words, which is one reason why people of myriad languages can get married (only one of which says “I do”).
January 21st, 2009 at 10:21 pm
As for the reason for re-taking the oath, it was no doubt to shut down bloggers like Ted who would harp for 4 years that Obama can’t be the real President, and thus, everyone should disregard him.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:22 pm
MWS
It hurts doesn’t it.
keep reaching
I’m here
January 21st, 2009 at 10:24 pm
#8 I hope you are right. If thta’s the case then Obama will be proposing supply side tax cuts and regulation eliminations tomorrow to shut us up?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Mike,
#9
You totally lost me there.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:39 pm
“So, for 19+ hours, we know that Barack Obama was not President of the United States”
How the hell are you a lawyer? They were just trying to prevent a frivolous lawsuit from a lunatic like you. Grow up, please.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I will assume the purpose of this FPP was light hearted and not meant to make a serious legal point.
Otherwise we will be a loooooooooong time in the wilderness with that kind of focus.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:03 pm
This is as dumb as the flawed argument that President Pro Tempore David Rice Atchison was president for one day because James Polk’s term ended at noon on March 4th but Zachary Taylor wasn’t sworn in until March 5th. A president’s term starts at noon on January 20th, no matter when he takes the oath. To believe otherwise is to believe that Biden and every other VP served as acting president during those few moments between the VP oath and the Presidential oath.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:05 pm
#5
Only because moronic conservative “activists” like too many on this website would have not let it rest. Jeez. Obama was, and is, President. Did you expect to take this all the way up to the Supreme Court and have Roberts rule that his oath was faulty? Come on.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:21 pm
He did official become President at Noon, I believe that is prescribed in the Constitution. So, Obama was President – to answer your question.
Second, while Chief Justice Roberts did misplace the word “faithfully”, it was Obama who made the first flub. Roberts started by saying, “I, Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear…”, but Obama cut him off and started to talk. Then Obama suddenly stopped and Roberts continued. I think that screwed them both up and it was a mess from there.
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:36 am
I’m not surprised they had a ‘do over’. Why? because there are so many of you out there that would yelp and scream that the oath was not taken properly, therefore he’s not really the president! You have not even figured out that Hawaii was a state when Obama was born, I know they’d have a hey day with this.
Who was President? Obama. He signed the offical docs’.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:52 am
“Now, if only President Obama could count.”
Your pettiness knows no bounds, does it?
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:30 am
Omg you are my hero Mike!
It’s all about you – don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 am
This website has gone to hell.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:19 am
Good post Gamecock, you predicted it yet again.
The question for Republicans now becomes, should they seek to call for an evaluation of any executive orders signed before the do over, constitutionally they may have some legal ground here that may be worth looking into, but it might also be a moot point.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
“Only because moronic conservative “activists” like too many on this website would have not let it rest. Jeez. Obama was, and is, President. Did you expect to take this all the way up to the Supreme Court and have Roberts rule that his oath was faulty? Come on.” I do not think many people are disputing that fact that Mr. Obama was President at noon, unlike the Liberal clowns that claim that the Supreme Court put our last President in power.
Some of you Moderates and Liberals need a sense of humor.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:13 am
#15 So if we don’t let supply side tax cuts “rest”, Obama will be for them? cool
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
#22 amen Joe, and it seems that Obama has one too, but the fact remains that he did re-take the Oath. Glad to see that on this matter he respects the actual words and mandates of the Constitution and didn’t see it as a “living” document in which he could just make up an Oath.
haha
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:24 am
#18 Only 43 different Americans have taken the Oath. Obama said 44. Shouldn’t the brilliant professor have known that rather than misunderestimating?
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:25 am
#19 Thanks Heath.
Cockstradamus is now perfect in 2009 prognostications.
9 of 12 in 2008
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:32 am
#17 I wrote a column saying that since Obama’s mother was a US citizen at his birth, that it didn’t matter where he was born.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 am
Gamecock:
If you want to continue your mischief, you can point out all the people confirmed by the Senate Tuesday were appointed by a private citizen and cannot take office.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 am
Your beef is with Obama. Surely no one so brilliant and serious would take part in a redundant and unnecesarry exercise, would he?
Update for those that think this re-do was about appeasing “right wing bloggers”:
I don’t think Coolidge and Arthur were fearful of Instapundit.
I wish conservative bloggers had such power, because if we did, President Obama would be proposing supply side tax cuts this morning. 10:19 am est January 22, 2009
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
It wasn’t Obama who couldn’t count. It wasn’t even the speech-writers, who knew full well that it should have been 43. It was that they thought American public would be confused if they said 43 because everyone’s saying he’s the 44th president. This just shows that Obama’s speechwriters have a presumption of ignorance among the American populace. It’s like all those American publishers who dumb down British novels because they don’t think American readers can handle it. J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett, who aren’t exactly on good terms which each other, have both complained about that. They even changed the very name of Rowling’s first book.
As for who was president, the Constitution is not as clear as some have said. It’s clear that the presidency ends at noon. So Bush was definitely not president. It doesn’t say that the next presidency starts at noon, which I’ve heard some claim. It does say that if a presidency is terminated, the vice-president becomes president until a president has been elected, so I think there’s reason to suggest that if the president has already been elected then the VP of the previous term does not become president. It also says that the president has to take the oath before executing his office, but it doesn’t say if he’s president before that. So I think it’s actually unspecified in the Constitution, and that means probably either no one is president or the Speaker-of-the-House is acting president until the VP oath, at which point the VP is acting president. Since lots of people have been acting president without being president (e.g. I know Quayle was at least twice), that’s not actually a big deal. We don’t have to list them in the list of presidents. But I’m a lot less sure after actually reading the Constitution that Obama was president than I had been when listening to constitutional scholars on NPR claiming that the Constitution says what it doesn’t say.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:33 am
“I don’t think Coolidge and Arthur were fearful of Instapundit.” Good point.
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
[...] before Obama re-took the Oath (predicted less than three hours after the flubbing on the podium by yours truly), we had documented his contempt for the framers of the Constitution [...]
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
[...] before Obama re-took the Oath (predicted less than three hours after the flubbing on the podium by yours truly), we had documented his contempt for the framers of the Constitution [...]
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:14 am
#30 It is convenient for liberals, who regularly talk down to Americans that they have such contempt for, to be able to cover up their own mistakes by such self reference.
Either way, they look either like elitist snobs or negligent.