Obama was sworn in again.
Hope restored.
UPDATE: Well, you would think that would be the end of it. I mean, it wasn't necessary in the first place (George Washington wasn't sworn in until seven weeks until his administration). But no. NOW the gripe is going to be that Obama, when he re-took the oath, did not have his left hand on the Bible. This, of course, makes no difference (legally or otherwise). You can swear on a Dr. Seuss book, a stack of Playboys, or nothing at all.
Well, the obvious. It's President Obama, rather than President Bush.
But there's something else.
Scour photos of the Oval Office over the last eight years and there is one thing you won't see — a man sans jacket. That's because Bush had a rule — jackets always in the Oval Office.
Obama, consciously or subconsciously in keeping with his roll-up-our-sleeves attitude, has dispensed with that rule rather quickly.
Section 1 of the 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.
Okay. So Bush and Cheney stopped being President and Vice-President at the stroke of noon. But because things were running behind schedule, Obama had not taken the oath. He wasn't sworn in until 12:03, because YoYo Ma & Friends were still fiddling around.
But if Bush and Cheney weren't President, then was Obama automatically President during those minutes?
It would seem so ("the terms of their successors shall then begin").
But wait. Article II, Section 1 states the following:
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."
So there is a gray area here. Is the oath a pre-requisite to being President (along with the 12:00 noon requirement)?
One could argue that Obama became President at noon, but he could not execute the duties of that office until he took the oath. In other words, he was a powerless leader for a prescious few minutes.
But there are other views. Professor Ken Katkin, a constitutional law professor, makes an interesting argument, and comes to an interesting conclusion:
(1) The 20th Amendment provides that “[t]he terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January. . . . ”
(2) Art II., Sec. 1 Cl. 8 provides that “[b]efore he enter on the Execution of his Office, [The President] shall take the following oath. . . ”
(3) President Obama did not take the Oath of Office until about 12:03 pm today, after Vice President Biden took it at about 12:01 p.m.
(4) Therefore, there was a brief window (just after noon) when George Bush and Dick Cheney were no longer President and Vice President, but Barack Obama and Joe Biden also were not yet qualified to enter on the Execution of their offices.
(5) The Presidential Succession Act, 3 U.S.C. sec. 19(a)(1), provides: “If, by reason of . . . failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President.” Section 19(b) states that the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall act as President (under the same terms and conditions) if the Speaker of the House fails to qualify.
(6) Neither Nancy Pelosi nor Robert Byrd actually resigned their seats in the Congress. Thus, neither of them qualified to become Acting President under the Presidential Succession Act. Plus, interbranch appointments might be unconstitutional anyhow. See Akhil Reed Amar and Vikram David Amar, Is the Presidential Succession Law Constitutional?, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 113 (1995); but see Howard Wasserman, Structural Principles and Presidential Succession, 90 Ky. L.J. 345 (2002).
(7) Section 19(d)(1) of the Presidential Succession Act provides: “If, by reason of . . . failure to qualify, there is no President pro tempore to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of State . . . ”
(8) Notably, Section 19(d)(1) does not condition the Secretary of State’s assumption of the powers and duties of the office of President on resignation of her current office, nor does elevation of the Secretary of State raise any constitutional issue of interbranch appointment.
(9) The term of office of the Secretary of State does not automatically terminate at noon on the 20th day of January.
(10) On January 20, 2009, Condoleeza Rice was (and is) still the Secretary of State.
(11) Accordingly, from 12:00 noon until 12:01 p.m. (when Vice President Biden took the oath of office and became Vice President), Condoleeza Rice was momentarily the Acting President of the United States, our first African-American President.
Sadly, Katkin is wrong on his timing. Biden was not sworn in at 12:01 p.m.; he was sworn in before noon (before Yoyo Ma and Perlman played). So, presumably, Joe Biden was President for a few minutes under the Presidential Succession Act.
The academic issue gets thornier when you consider that President Obama did not take the presidential oath as written. In giving the oath, Chief Justice Roberts misplaced the word "faithfully". He corrected himself, but Obama repeated the words as Roberts initially said them, an an awkward crosstalk between the two.
The obvious solution to this minor problem is for the oath to be re-administered. It takes 30 seconds, and can be done in private. In fact, Charles Cooper, head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel under President Ronald Reagan, said that he would be surprised if the oath hadn't already been re-administered.
Assming that the oath has not been re-administered, then our President is Joe Biden.
But don't get your hopes up, conspiracy theorists. Legal challenges to Obama's presidency won't survive. Lyle Denniston explains why.
UPDATE: Some believe that, as a matter of tradition, an incoming President takes the oath of office privately before the official ceremony. There's no knowing if Obama did this. If he did, then of course, everything in this post is moot.
Pat bemoans the fate of the GOP:
What has been happening to the GOP? Three fatal contractions.
Demographically, the GOP is a party of white Americans, who in 1972 were perhaps 90 percent of the national vote. Nixon and Reagan rolled up almost two-thirds of that vote in 1972 and 1984. But because of abortion and aging, the white vote is shrinking as a share of the national vote and the population.
[Emphasis mine]
Rrrrright, Pat. Because minorities don't get abortions and never die.
It happened only a few hours ago, but the dance of the President and First Lady is already going viral.
Wheeled out on a stretcher. Remember, he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May.
Senator Byrd (D-W.Va) collapsed as well, although it doesn't sound as serious. I'm not a big fan of Byrd, being a former Klansman and all.
(Photo from earlier in today's inaugural luncheon)
UPDATE: Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo), who has been twittering all day, notes Kennedy's collapse.
First of all, it's got a blog.
Secondly, to its credit, it reflects Obama's commitment to open and transparent government. Case in point:
The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government.
And even better:
One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.
One hopes that people will take this seriously, rather than just rant.
From security cams at a New York pier:
A ten minute video (crash starts at 2:00) shows the speed of the current and rescue operations. At about 3:12, you can see one of the passengers fall off the slippery wing into the cold water on the right hand side.
BBC has unearthed a video of Dr. King, in 1964, predicting an African American president in 40 years.
A certain segments of wingnuts — the same ones who claim that Obama isn't a natural born citizen — will claim that Obama isn't actually president because of the flub-up of the Presidential Oath (which, by the way, was Chief Justice Robert's fault).
Here's the vid for those who missed it:
Nice commercial from T-mobile that has to be seen to be enjoyed:
NOTE: The White House website has changed already — in the span of 3 minutes.
UPDATE — The full text of the address below the fold…
THOUGHTS: Good speech. Lofty and inspirational. A bit tweaky of the Bush policies, but I'm sure unintentionally so.
Cheney in the wheelchair looked like Mr. Potter from "It's A Wonderful Life".
Oops. Too late.
Over at WorldNetDaily, the Christian News service, we get this editorial from WND CEO Joseph Farah:
Pray Obama Fails
That's why I do not hesitate today in calling on godly Americans to pray that Barack Hussein Obama fail in his efforts to change our country from one anchored on self-governance and constitutional republicanism to one based on the raw and unlimited power of the central state.
It would be folly to pray for his success in such an evil campaign.
I want Obama to fail because his agenda is 100 percent at odds with God's. Pretending it is not simply makes a mockery of God's straightforward Commandments.
So you will not see me joining in the ritual of affirming Obama and his mission in public or private prayer this week – or any other week.
I'm talking, of course, about the 5th anniversary of this blog.
The first post was January 21, 2004, a passing reference to a State of the Union drinking game. I had blogged for several years prior to that — at a group blog called "Freespeech" — but this was my first foray into something of my own.
So it's been five years — 6517 posts, 1148 comments, and over 533,000 visitors. You would think I would have something profound or reflective to say, but no. It's just a blog.
Speaking of historic days, I hear this Obama guy takes office in 45 minutes. Again, I lack anything profound to say. I am astounded by the TV shots of 2 million people on the mall. I'm interested to hear his address, and find the "ask not what you can do for your country can do for you…" moment.
Here at work (for those who made it in — we had an inch of snow) there are TV monitors in every floor. Our conference room has a projection screen. And I will pop in. But I'm not much for ceremony, finding myself more interested in Obama as President, than Obama becoming President. I'm far more interested in our long national nightmare being over.
