Obama's Oath and the "stutter"

[tshuma]

I think some folks might be unaware of what happened during Obama's taking the oath of office. He began a little too quickly, and I think that rushing it there may have thrown off Chief Justice Roberts, who then misspoke a later portion of the oath. In watching it, it looks as though Obama is so nervous or giddy that he needs prompting every second word until he gets himself back under control.

Edited to add: Let me make this more clear: Obama didn't mess up the oath. Justice Roberts did.

In reality, Chief Justice Roberts misspoke the oath, and that threw a small hitch in the process until he could correct himself.

Roberts asked Obama to “execute the office of president to the United States faithfully,” rather than to “faithfully execute the office of president of the United States” as dictated by the Constitution. The snafu caused Obama to halt mid-oath and grin before Roberts corrected himself.

Link here. (two thirds of the way down the page)

I've already seen people panning him for not getting it right, for stuttering and thus revealing himself for "the idiot he really is", and other such nonsense.

I'm just annoyed that something so insignificant is giving the pundits room to make hay.

I also cheered the "nonbelievers" portion of the speech, which was preceded by "a nation of Christians and Muslims...". I do wish there was a lot less God in our public ceremonies. Why does every speech have to end "God bless America!"? (Note: question was rhetorical.)

I am pleased by our choice, and I wish there had been a better choice out there. I wish Obama believed in gay marriages instead of civil unions. I wish I believe that someone who openly supported gay marriage would have been electable. There are a hundred different, valid reasons to object to him as leader of our country. But to have people denigrate his intelligence or suitability because of a momentary hitch in the oath of office is just ridiculous.

Comments

[ziggybecket.livejournal.com]

Yah, I saw that as a honest mistake. It was interesting to see how Obama just grinned and shrugged it off. But yah, these news networks need to talk about SOMETHING.

PS: Thanks! ;)

[scotis-man.livejournal.com]

I was watching the CNN feed at work. An interesting note to be made before people try to say that the stutter makes the transfer of power not count, music was being played at 12:00 Eastern, before the oath took place, and the CNN announcer came on and noted when the transfer of power happened, oath or not.

[dixiemouse.livejournal.com]

Well, the media in general has spent the last ___ months raising him onto a pedastal... now they feel obligated to start tearing him down...

Doesn't matter who was elected, someone would have found some fault in the proceedings to run with...

But, really, let someone put themselves in that position... how would they really handle it? He may be the President now, but he is still as human as the rest of us...

[graethorne.livejournal.com]

I think that something along the lines of "all peoples, of whatever faith" wouldda been better than naming six and then lumping all the rest -by exclusion- into the last catagory, nonbelievers. =grumble= What about Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, etc.?

I found the opening porayer less obnoxious than predicted, but still unacceptable. Launch "God" out of politics, military life and my personal business, please, except at a personal -and preferably PRIVATE- level. So often, those who are telling the rest of us how to live have several scandals waiting to break, and I'm sick of that three-letter word being more important in a speech than practical solutions to problems.

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

The only place I saw any comment about the oath getting messed up (other than your LJ) was a conservative blog site, and they specifically dumped on Roberts, not Obama, for messing it up.

[rocketgeek.livejournal.com]

Roberts decided to go noteless. In the context of something as important as a presidential inauguration, that's a bit like going pantless.