Obama is NOT the President

[SCantiGOP]

Somebody joked about this earlier, but the wingnuts continue to be a parody of themselves. Read it here first from that great source of journalism, Newsmax:

The presidential oath of office should be re-administered to Barack Obama because of his flub during Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony, legal experts say.

Because of a mistake by Chief Justice John Roberts, Obama transposed one of the words in the oath. He should have said he will “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,” but instead repeated Roberts’ cue and said he will “execute the Office of President of the United States faithfully.”

Josh White of the Washington Post noted: “The presidential oath of office is required of a new president before he can execute his power, and the Constitution is clear that its 35 words must be spoken exactly.”

Jonathan Turley, a professor of constitutional law at George Washington University, told the Post: “He should probably go ahead and take the oath again. If he doesn’t, there are going to be people who for the next four years are going to argue that he didn’t meet the constitutional standard.”

(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...

[RobertSeattle]

1. the 20th Amendment says he is, regardless of the oath

[BlueCaliDem]

16. Exactly. He didn't even take the oath until 5 minutes past noon, but was

according to the Constitution, already President for five minutes!

I know what Turley is saying, but on the other hand, won't repubs and their sheeple denounce President Obama no matter what? That shouldn't be a factor for him to consider reciting the Oath of Office a second time since the U.S. Constitution stands above partisan bickering.

He recited each and every word even if it wasn't in the exact way the oath was written, and that is all that should matter.

[G_j]

51. and other presidents have simply said, "I do" nt

[Ms. Toad]

56. Actually, the 20th amendment

Governs the term ending and beginning. Article II governs the authority to act:

Article II, Section 1 says, "Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--'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.'"

From a constitutional perspective (and not knowing whether Obama privately took the oath ahead of time - as presidents sometime do), it isn't clear to me who had the authority to act as president those few minutes. If there wasn't a private oath ahead of time, it may have been Biden. (The vice president is authorized to exercise the powers of the presidency when the president has an "Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office." In this case, the inability would have been because he had not yet taken the oath.

[Kalyke]

2. ..."there are going to be people who for the next four years

are going to argue that he didn’t meet the constitutional standard.”


He means Republicans.

[demgurl]

11. So if is not officially our President that means.....

We can elect him for two more terms, right??????????

[bdamomma]

39. sounds good to me.

[4_TN_TITANS]

47. I like your thinking....

We may have an FDR in the making, if the Pubs want to make hay over this.

[demgurl]

53. Well I was sure that that was how Bush would try to drag out his term.

I was positive they would say he was selected by the Supreme Court and not the people so he never was elected and would get to run another term. I was scared to even post it in case someone from the right would latch onto it!!!

They better be careful what they wish for or Obama could be here a lot longer than they ever imagined!!!!!

[BlueCaliDem]

59. Sneaky and clever. I like it! n/t

[nxylas]

15. And if he does, they'll just keep harping on the birth certificate

And if a court does subpoena the vault copy of his birth certificate, they'll find something else to seize on. President Obama has more important things to worry about than appeasing the lunatic fringe with meaningless gestures, and if he gives them an inch, they'll want a mile.

[SoCalNative]

21. And those wingnuts are already convinced

he doesn't meet the Constitutional standard because he refuses to produce his birth certificate for inspection. So it doesn't matter what they think....they're idiots anyway.

[Enthusiast]

49. Agreed. Nothing short of Jesus

giving an actual written endorsement of Obama would suffice. Then most Republicans wouldn't believe it was Jesus unless he rose from the dead and turned water into wine for them.

[EmilyAnne]

55. Nope. Even then, they would accuse Jesus of not being a "real Christian."

[louis-t]

35. republicans aren't people.

[bdamomma]

37. and we know how the repigs bitch and moan.

I'll go with Turley on this, repigs are just being jerks as always.

[getthefacts]

3. I believe

Constitutionally, he is the president at noon on Jan. 20th, with or without an oath. Anyway, there will always be a nut case out there trying to prove that he is not an American citizen. Well, I don't mind. I'm so proud of this country right now that these skirmishes don't really affect me.

[SCantiGOP]

14. this is the correct answer, but...

I like demgurl's suggestion above.

[Ms. Toad]

58. According to the constitution,

Bush was out at noon. Obama was in at noon, but may not have had the authority to act until he executed the oath.

[BlooInBloo]

4. (shrug) Genius DUers have been wringing their hands over that non-issue as well.

[2Design]

12. maybe they are only mascurading as DUers or they would let it go n/t

[Belial]

I think this has been posted before.. several times before...

[underpants]

5. NewsMax is so inept that they actually stated that it was Roberts that flubbed

they are horrible at what they do

[Flabbergasted]

9. I think Roberts did make the mistake. nt

[WritingIsMyReligion]

24. He definitely did.

But it's all Big Bad Obama's fault, remember????

[MiniMe]

43. He did, and Obama caught it.

Roberts corrected it, but Obama repeated it the way he said it the first time.

[cynatnite]

6. The rapture ready freaks want someone to sue over that...

Of course, though, according to the constitution, Obama was president as of noon whether he took that oath or not.

[rucky]

22. Same assholes that complain about trial lawyers...

and are stooges for "tort reform"

[mnhtnbb]

7. BS. George Bush said all the words correctly and then ignored the Constitution.

I say, when Bush is tried for his crimes, then Obama can repeat the oath. Until then, the reich-wingers should all just STFU!

[napi21]

8. Turley said THAT? That doesn't sound like him at all. I see FOX

and Newsmax spreading this BS, but not Turley!

[MiniMe]

44. Turley said that he probably should take it over

so the right wing won't harp on it, not that it makes a difference.

[baldguy]

10. 20th Amendment

"The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin."

[Marr]

13. I wonder if there's some portion of that crowd that's embarrassed by this.

It's just sad.

When you consider the fact that these are largely the same people who claimed Bush was legitimate, despite being appointed by the Supreme Court in such an odious way... it just gets even more strange. They've got a distinctive brand of lunatic hypocrisy.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. The article is simply flat out wrong. He didn't repeat roberts. He

waited until roberts corrected himself & then repeated the correct passage. It's as simple as that.

[targetpractice]

31. He did not...

Roberts flubbed... Obama paused after saying "I will execute"... Roberts realized the mistake and recited the correct passage... Then Obama continued with, "the office of President of the United States faithfully."

Obama misplaced "faithfully" but correctly said "the office of President of the United States." Roberts originally said, "the office of President to the United States."

Confusing, but I'm impressed how Obama caught it and recovered.

[The_Casual_Observer]

38. Roberts put the "faithfully" at the end, Obama didn't buy it & waited for

Roberts to do it right then Obama repeated it the right way. Obama made no mistakes.

[targetpractice]

42. With all due respect, watch the video...

Obama misplaces "faithfully" just as Robert did initially.

I think Obama was more concerned about the "to" vs "of" in his new title.

On edit: I don't think this matters, much. I replied to you in case you found yourself in a discussion with the opposition... I watching your back...to make sure you were on solid ground.

[stellanoir]

18. trashing the economy, the Constitution, the rule of law,

stealing elections, rampant corruption, committing war crimes and treason are all just fine.

a misplaced adverb. . . frigging inexcusable.

/sarcasm

[Dennis Donovan]

19. As predicted, the raving right are making more non-issues...

So much for unity...

[meegbear]

20. And who will decide this issue?

The US Supreme Court. And I think Roberts is gonna side with Obama.

[Maven]

23. These provocative thread titles are so trite.

[Raine]

61. Yeah really

[BR_Parkway]

25. He could take it this time on the Quron - that might make them happy

LOL, I know it won't but hey, if they want him to swear again....

[Still Sensible]

26. I certainly "get" the argument that the 20th Amendment defined

the terms.... however, that amendment did not specifically remove the oath requirement, nor was it intended to. Therefore at the very least there could be a question. I would argue that he said all the words and the order in which he said them in no way altered their meaning or his intent.

For all those so vehemently asserting otherwise, I suggest that had the intent been to remove the need for the oath, the amendment would explicitly say so.

It is a silly little petty bullshit thing the freepers have to bitch about and they will be in grasping-at-straws mode for some time. If they didn't have this to bitch about, it would be something else.

Frankly, I think the freepers making this argument look beyond silly to all but their kool-aid drunk base... let 'em bitch... or as a former Veep used to say "Go Fuck Yourself."

[kestrel91316]

27. How do we know he DIDN'T already retake it in private?

Not that he needs to, IMHO........

Turley is a fool. I suggest he and his buddies sue all the way to the Supreme Court over this - where Roberts can set them straight - because he's the ultimate authority on that oath, and if it was good enough for HIM yesterday, it ought to be good enough for the rest of us.

[chrisa]

28. So? Obama can't be President anyway.

He was born on planet Krypton, and came to earth at the age of 150 and took on a human form.

[RobertSeattle]

29. You left out the part about virgin birth...

[Sal Minella]

40. Hmm. I hadn't realized Krypton had a Muslin population.

We aren't going to be subjected to anal probes when they come to check up on him, are we???

[sohndrsmith]

65. ... and if the morans say he's Muslin, it must be so... ; ) n/t

[spanone]

30. silly folks...get a life...

[HEyHEY]

32. He should take it again, just to shut them up, I'm serious

[mr blur]

33. "“faithfully execute" is a split infinitive - technically,

it's correct to say execute... faithfully. Perhaps Obama is just literate.

[targetpractice]

45. Brilliant observation! n/t

[BlooInBloo]

48. So much the worse for that so-called rule.

[FarCenter]

34. He should retake the oath

He needs to fix three defects:

- put "faithfully" in the right word order,

- omit saying his name after the first "I", and

- remove the "so help me God",

so that the wording complies with the Constitution.

[bdamomma]

63. I think "so help me God" should be taken out.

keep religion and state separate please.

[My Good Babushka]

36. klaatu, verata, nic-*cough cough*

yeah, basically he said 'em.

[NV Whino]

41. Spoken exactly, eh?

Josh White of the Washington Post noted: “The presidential oath of office is required of a new president before he can execute his power, and the Constitution is clear that its 35 words must be spoken exactly.”

Notice (below) that the oath of office does not include any reference to God. The oath administered wasn't the proper oath, flubbed order of "faithfully" or not.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html
"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."

[Aristus]

46. The oath is just a formality. I don't care that it is prescribed word-for-word in the Constitution.

I swore an oath when I joined the Army. It was just a ceremony. The legal obligation began the moment I signed the enlistment contract. If I failed to show up at the MEPS station to take the oath, I could have been arrested. So between the deadlines specified in the 20th Amendment, and the official document signing after the swearing-in ceremony, Obama is President.

So, shut the fuck up, sore losermen!

[TWiley]

50. You will notice that the Joint Chiefs did not join him in the parade box

they came in one at a time and only stayed long enough to salute their troops. What is up with that?

[w4rma]

57. The Joint Chiefs have all been replaced with Bushbots. The thinkers were forced out. (nt)

[treestar]

52. He said all the words and made the pledge

So this is a level of technicality that would be bad for the nation and for legal precedent.

He shouldn't do it again because giving in to freepers on this gives them credibility.

[mulsh]

54. Pres Obama corrected roberts and repeated the botched words

in their correct order he even said his full name when roberts said Barak H. Obama. That was at the begining of the oath, when roberts rushed the words. watch the video. minor screw ups courtesy of a major tool.

[Raine]

60. He took it again today so now they can all STFU

already!

[HEyHEY]

62. BBC says he didn't do it on a bible, now we're gonna have to hear about THIS

[Redstone]

64. How about giving this rightwing bullshit a fucking rest?

Redstone