Obama Faces First Grammatical Challenge As President

it's Roberts' contribution to the stimulus, he's trying to create work for lawyers.

President Obama looked frustrated with Roberts to me. Or should that be - To me, President Obama looked frustrated with Roberts?

Ha Rainbow.
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Nice headline framing Roberts screw up. Sheesh.

My, that was frustrating!

Roberts is no doubt afraid his court is going to change dramatically and he was doing his best to create a challenge to the new President.
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MS, Your link to the Constitution above is to a record of the historical document, not to the text. The text doesn't seem as definitive to me as you imply. And according to the XX Amendment (not to mention Wolf Blitzer) his term began at 12:00 noon no matter if he had taken the oath or not.

Bad news, Ted Kennedy collapsed at the luncheon and was taken away by paramedics.

I just heard ivb3016! I'm very upset, but i've decided to just be glad he could attend this day that he helped make a reality!

My Gosh, Robert Byrd, too!

As soon as I saw the headline on my RSS feed, I knew it was a Scherer post. Apparently, Drudge rules his world too.

MSNBC: Byrd difficulty eating; escorted out on own power. Minutes later Kennedy started seizing. Wheeled out in wheelchair already in.

That's horrible; it will be a sad day when Sen. Kennedy is no longer with us. I hope he is able to stay in the Senate long enough to see the creation of Universal Health Care.

As to Chief Justice Roberts: I'm not surprised he screwed up the constitutional oath for the President, he screws up the constitution all the time.

I thought it would only be some extreme wingnuts thinking that there might be a question about whether Obama is really president since Roberts screwed up the oath. But now Chris Wallace is saying it might end up in the courts. With a bit of humor in his voice but not completely clear he was joking.

--Josh Marshall
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MS a job at FNC awaits.

Hey Scherer, is it not the coma that makes the difference rather than the placement of the adverb?

Nixon screwed up the oath in '72, putting an extras "and" between "preserve" and "protect." Every time I hear it in "All the President's Men" I wonder whether his entire (abbreviated0 second term was Constitutionally flawed.
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Gotta hand it to Roberts, though… one big job in the spotlight and he mucks it up. Screw "original intent;" let's have a Chief who can read lines!

Good point, FlownOver

You know, now that we have our Preview back, maybe I ought to use it.

"Obama apparently noticed the mistake, ..
He did! I didn't notice a thing. Was I under more stress - just watching - than he was?

" .. it could spawn a nutty court challenge .."
That may be easier, (and hence more attractive) than challenging the likes of FISA, corrupt/unaccountable bank and insurance company officials, .. ...

FlownOver Says:
" .. Gotta hand it to Roberts, though … .. let's have a Chief who can read lines! .."

Why do I get the nagging impression that Roberts did it deliberately? After all, there wasn't a lot of love between them right from Roberts' confirmation hearings ..

I doubt it was intentional, as Roberts is the one who came off looking incompetent.
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Did I just say looking incompetent?

FlownOver Says:
" .. I doubt it was intentional, as Roberts is the one who came off looking incompetent. .."

Maybe it was a case of a too clever a scheme gone awry.
Maybe BHO had the presence of mind - even on this stressful occasion. The lawyer Michelle seemed to catch on fast and get amused by it too.

[Just imagine - some hard-working, very hard-working Americans (like 'textee') conspiring with Roberts to pass a fast one by BHO which will serve to make "That One" look real bad for a professor seeking to uphold the constitution whose wording he doesn't know ..

Now, suppose BHO had not caught on .. But he did. The scheme backfired, and Roberts looked incompetent instead.

Another one bites the dust. Roberts proves it to his detriment - that BHO is cool under pressure.]

Having conducted weddings, I have learned a few things about how to give someone words to "repeat after me." Here is my account of what happened. In summary, Roberts should have given Obama shorter segments to repeat, and misplaced the "faithfully"; Obama jumped in too quickly at first, and then forgot what exactly he was supposed to say.

Here is the more detailed account. Both men were clearly nervous. Roberts said, "I BHO, do solemnly swear," but Obama jumped in too early, and began to say, "I, BHO." I've learned that when someone is nervous, it's best to give them small snippets to repeat, because they tend to forget what was said. In any case, perhaps Obama was kicking himself for this mistake, because he clearly forgot what he was supposed to say after Roberts had read the next part.

Yes, Roberts should have put the "faithfully" earlier, but that does not account for why Obama forgot what he was supposed to say. If Obama knew the oath cold, he should have just said it with the "faithfully" located properly. But he forgot exactly what was said, and looked to Roberts to have him repeat it.

It is *not* that Obama recognized the mistake and waited for Roberts to correct it--because when Obama finally said it, he said the mistaken version.

I appreciated the moment. Some Obama partisans are eager to blame Roberts, but the truth is that both men flubbed it. Obama is generally good at concealing when he is nervous, but his nervousness came through in this moment. It was a nice reminder of human imperfections.

Roberts actually said "...President TO the United States," not "President OF the United States."

[...] Biden Ribs Roberts, Obama Announces Changes Posted by michaelscherer | Comments (0) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This THE WHITE HOUSE -- Joe Biden hasn't lost his step. Just moments ago, at the Old Executive Office Building, it came time for the vice president to issue the oath of office for the senior staff. Biden had to stop the proceeding to ask for a copy of the oath. "My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts," he said. There was laughter around the room.  (This was a reference to Roberts flubbing the presidential oath yesterday.) [...]