(no subject)
Jan. 20th, 2009 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felis_ultharusJohn Ralston Saul, my favourite philosopher, was on CBC's Q this morning saying that Canadians were right to feel envious of the US -- not because of any specific policies, but because unlike any prime minister we've had in more than two decades, he knows how to use language and knows its value.
(To Saul, democracy is about words and language and argument, and the victory of language and argument over brute force. It's hard to overstate the concept of peaceful transfers of power actually is, and how radical it was when democracy first started to spread.)
It's surprising how simple the actual swearing is. All he does is but his hand on a Bible, "I do solemnly swear 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." It is tradition, but not required, to add "so help me God."
Obviously, some presidents take that stuff about the constitution more seriously than others. I strongly suspect that George Walker Bush just tapped that Bible with an old stick and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
(To Saul, democracy is about words and language and argument, and the victory of language and argument over brute force. It's hard to overstate the concept of peaceful transfers of power actually is, and how radical it was when democracy first started to spread.)
It's surprising how simple the actual swearing is. All he does is but his hand on a Bible, "I do solemnly swear 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." It is tradition, but not required, to add "so help me God."
Obviously, some presidents take that stuff about the constitution more seriously than others. I strongly suspect that George Walker Bush just tapped that Bible with an old stick and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."