#4 The oath is. The Bible is not. Art II, Sec. 1 provides, in part,
"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.'"
Nowhere in that section, nor any other in the Constitution, is a religious book of any type required. In fact, swearing is also not required, as an affirmation to the oath is sufficient. Also swearing to the oath in the name of God is not required. If it were required, it likely would be interpreted as voided by the First Amendment. However, because it is not required, and does not affect the impact of swearing to or affirming the oath, invoking God's name has no legal effect. The oath or affirmation would be sufficient without it.
Time magazine provides some interesting related detail:
"While most presidential oaths have been administered by the Chief Justice--Roger Taney swore in seven Commanders in Chief, a record--it's not required. Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, presided over one of his son's two oaths, in 1923. Presidents can choose to affirm instead of swear (although only one has: the devout Franklin Pierce). And most have added "So help me God" at the end, as George Washington is believed to have done, though historians now dispute it. Several Presidents, including George W. Bush, were sworn in on the Washington Bible, a 10-lb. volume belonging to a New York Freemasons' society. John Quincy Adams, to keep a barrier between church and state, was sworn in on a book of U.S. laws. Harry S Truman used two Bibles in 1949--one, a gift from friends; the other, the one he used in his 1945 Inauguration. No matter what book or how many, an oath is an oath: the swearer is officially considered President from that moment on."
#1 The perceived problem with Chief Justice Roberts stumbling over the language was that some doofus might later try to claim the oath had never been properly administered. If that were correct, any laws signed into effect by the President likely would be a nullity. The repeating of the oath was most likely not necessary from a legal standpoing. However, repeating it could not cause any legal issues, whereas failing to repeat it verbatim could tie up the President, lawyers, taxpayer money, courts and judges, etc., ad nauseum. He could take the oath several times a day, and there would be no unfavorable legal consequences.
The second swearing-in was done much more casually. The first took place in front of an estimated 2 million people in D.C., with millions more watching on TV. It was comparitevly hastily put-together and without all of the ceremony of the first swearing-in. I highly doubt that no one in the White House had a Bible handy; it simply isn't necessary to legally take office.
The suggestion, without any proof whatsoever to back it up, that he used a Koran instead is patently bigoted and senseless. You and your ilk are making visiting these boards a tiresome experience. Knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing idiots who continue to foment this tiresome rhetoric and redneck ideology need to go set up your own BBB elsewhere. You can call it Witless for the Prosecution and keep congratulating the guy in front of you as you apply the lube and pull other equally lame and bigoted ideas out of each others' asses.
#2, 5 you seem to suffer from some of the same problems. How can you factually support a theory that the President does not have a Bible handy and/or that he does not consider having a Bible in his home at the ready. BTW, the guy just moved in. I seriously doubt he did his own packing and moving. I'd be surprised if he can find all of his stuff already. Shoot, the first day I move, I'm happy if I can find clean underwear and socks.
Man, the level of ignorance, presumptuousness and pomposity on these boards is simply stunning. Some of you really need to quit locking every little damned event in life into that tiny little self-righteous conspiracy/superiority vault in your feeble little brains and join the rest of us in the 21st century. I swear, I'm shocked one of you rightwing nutjobs hasn't called for a public lynching by now.
Grow the hell up.
