I was interested in the actions of Chief Justice John Roberts at the inauguration of Barack Obama today. First, I was amazed at Roberts' casual, almost bored, tone of voice. Second, I was amazed at the way Roberts cut up the sentences he was reciting for Obama to repeat. The phrasing was odd, with dangling words tacked on to the end of a sentence. When Mr. Obama repeated the words "I, Barack Obama," Roberts kept talking; Obama didn't hear what he was saying, and waited for Roberts to repeat the words. Instead of doing so, Roberts stood there in silence, staring. After a while he began again, speaking unenthusiastic and overly-long strands of words in an offhand voice. At worst, Roberts seemed to want to trip-up and embarrass the new president. At best, he was unenthusiastic about what he was doing. Thank you, Mr. Roberts, for making your attitude so clear. The Supreme Court needs to be closely watched with a chief who only supports American institutions when those institutions support his beliefs.
Update: Apparently Mr. Roberts rewrote the oath of office. He put the word "faithfully" in a different place. Why would he do that? Hmmm.
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