Youth, Ambition Will Meet Over Lincoln's Bible

Chief justice swears in US' first black president

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States. In front of record crowds and with his hand on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln, Obama took the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts. The new president swore: “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 help me God.” More»

Chattering class sure to run with Obama's omission, though it's a perfectly legal one

(NEWSER) - Huge news out of Washington: Barack Obama didn’t use a Bible when he re-took the oath of office! Is he really the president? Well, yes, says Alex Koppelman of Salon. “Legally, the president can be sworn in on a copy of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and the oath would count.” Will that stop Matt Drudge from complaining? Uh, no. More»

Expect a fierce battle for liberal justice's replacement

(NEWSER) - What will John Paul Stevens’ retirement mean for the Supreme Court? Here are three early thoughts on what comes next:

• Expect the tea partiers to get extremely riled up over whoever President Obama nominates, writes Chris Good of the Atlantic . They have a “very strict (one could almost say fundamentalist)” take on the Constitution, and they’re itching for a post-health care fight.

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush’s historical reputation seems to be sinking by the day, but John Roberts, his slick, smiling appointee as the Supreme Court’s chief justice, remains as an “enduring and faithful reflection of the Bush presidency,” writes Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker. Though Roberts promised a charmed Congress he’d practice with “modesty and humility,” he’s been a doctrinaire conservative more combative even than Antonin Scalia. More»

Lawyers advise he retake fudged oath to avoid controversy

(NEWSER) - OK, it's probably not going to come up in court, but some constitutional lawyers tell the San Francisco Chronicle that Barack Obama should retake his flubbed oath just to be on the safe side. Presidents Coolidge and Arthur did after similar gaffes. It "would take him 30 seconds, he can do it in private, it's not a big deal, and he ought to do it just to be safe," said a Boston University constitutional scholar. "It's an open question whether he's president until he takes the proper oath." More»