Getting it Right

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. flubbed the presidential oath of office yesterday when he misplaced "faithfully" within the 35 word Constitutional requirement and used the wrong preposition, substituting "to" for "of" when referring to the President of the United States.

Being a strict constitutionalist, and molded by The Federal Society, Roberts gave President Obama, gosh I love writing that, the oath of office again tonight in the Oval Office.

The question I ask is why Roberts didn't have a copy of the oath in front of him at the inauguration: Arrogance, arrogance, arrogance.

Of course, President Obama did the right thing in stopping all military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay for at least 120 days to permit review of the processes. Hopefully this will be the end of these kangaroo trials that make a sham of American law and ideals.

Just announced: President Obama will sign an executive order tomorrow closing Guantanamo Bay within a year!!!!

Texas Senator John Cornyn is holding up the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General, allegedly wanting assurances that Holder will not prosecute intelligence officers for engaging in torture.

I suggest that this delay in confirmation is murkier than that. First, Cornyn is the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which means he is responsible for raising lots of money. So he has to raise a lot of smoke so it doesn't look like Obama is getting his way on everything without resistance.

But more cynically, Holder stated at his confirmation hearing that waterboarding is torture, simple and clear. Cornyn, acting as a proxy, is afraid of prosecutions of Bush administration officials, like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, for authorizing torture. It isn't the intelligence community he's protecting. It's his fellow Texan!

It would be absolutely inappropriate to ask for assurances from Holder as a condition of confirmation that he won't prosecute anyone, whether a CIA officer or the former President of the United States of America, for violating domestic and international prohibitions against the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading tactics against any suspects.