The Oath of Office

Out of today's Washington Post comes this article on the 30 seconds it takes to administer the Oath of Office to the new President. I don't know the author, Dan Zak, from Adam's odd ox, but I think he did a great job (that may be Adam's off ox, not odd, but that is the way I learned it).

The article talks about both the history of the Oath and about the meaning of the Oath. Did you know that Lady Bird Johnson was the first First Lady to hold the Bible at the Oath Administration. That was within my lifetime, and after I missed a chance to march in an Inaugural Parade due to bad weather.

The whole Air Force Academy Cadet Wing was being flown to Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland, to march in the Kennedy Inaugural Parade. The C-130 in front of ours did not break out on final and diverted to Fort Campbell, KY. We followed suit, as did the others behind us. I am guessing about half of the Cadet Wing didn't make it in. Today, I was talking to someone at Church about it and he said that he had been there to see the Parade and that it had been so cold along the route that he and his buddies repaired to a grill and watched it on TV. That confirms the way it was reported back to those of us who didn't march by those who did.

The journalist talks about a lot of things in his article, including how "So help me God" is not part of the Oath as laid out in the Constitution, but has become part of that oath. And he talks to how Chief Justice John Roberts has been sued about that.

Earlier this month, process server Dan Portnoy walked up to John Roberts's home in Maryland and, through the front window, locked eyes with the chief justice. Roberts came to the door and graciously accepted a lawsuit filed against him.

Credit Michael Newdow, California physician and lawyer, for slinging a fiery complaint to the private doorstep of the supreme judiciary. Newdow wants "so help me God" (and prayer) removed from the inauguration. He and others argue that the chief justice alters the Constitution, acknowledges the existence of God and places the government's "imprimatur" on specific religious beliefs.

This is not new for Dr Newdow, who has been to court over such issues before. I think this is one of the strengths of our system. If you don't like it you can petition the Congress or take it to court.

Here is the end of the article:

Half a minute to confuse and captivate the curious citizen. Slow it down, and what do we see? Centuries into seconds on the inaugural stage.

A nation founded on the concept of separation between church and state will call upon God at its most crucial public ceremony, as has been done for centuries.

A chief justice will add four words to the Constitution, and the majority will be fine with that, even though a steady stream of lawsuits are being filed to question tradition.

A black man will swear on the Bible of the president who's credited with unshackling slaves, swearing to preserve a document that he alters by the end of the oath, and this will be either a touchy exercise of his religious freedom or a theatrical nod to wise forefathers.

His wife will hold that Bible as a sign of her evolving-yet-indefinite role, smack at center stage but chronically unscripted.

These actions spring from heritage, not law, but they will be choreographed with a precision that makes them seem carved in stone. Face the stage and face the nation. It's roiling and shifting, even in that tiny, historic moment when everyone stands still.

And here is a web site designed for children that talks about the Oath--Ben's Guide to US Constitution.

I commend the article to you and God Bless President Barak Obama and may he preserve the Constitution of the United States.

Regards  --  Cliff