“So Help Me George”

I doubt that Obama will be the first modern president to return to the actual text of his oath from the Constitution and, if he does, it’ll likely be for the wrong reason. I also don’t expect him to honor it in the slightest.

But if you think George Washington was the first to add the “so help me God” language, you’re likely mistaken.

Taken together, the complete lack of contemporary evidence, George Washington’s political philosophy of strictly following the Constitution and the concurrent debate over the proper wording of oaths under the new Constitution make it virtually certain that George Washington did not add the words “So help me God” to his inaugural oath.

No, I’m not a Newdow Atheist (ie: litigious busybody) but I do believe the Constitution says what it means, and that it is the most important single document in the country. This is the only sentence in the whole document which is in quotes:

“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.”

That’s what the Founding Fathers meant the president to say, and that’s what he should say. No more, no less.

It’s going to be a parody-proof four years

I thought the Stalinist-style posters of Obama were anti-Obama parody. I thought that about that commercial with the little kids singing a hymn to Him. Now it seems I’m to be surrounded by people so treacly smitten with The One that I’ll never know when they’re joking.

On the morning after the election, Kristin Rothballer, 36, who lives in San Francisco, kissed her female partner goodbye on the train while commuting to work. A black woman who sat down next to her turned and said she was sorry that Proposition 8, the amendment to ban gay marriage in the state, looked like it was going to pass.

“We grabbed hands,” Ms. Rothballer recalled. “And I said, ‘Well, I really want to congratulate you because we have a black president and that’s amazing.’ ”

“Our conversation then almost became about the fact that we were having the conversation,” she said.

Something moved her to apologize to the black woman for slavery.

“For two strangers riding a train to Oakland to have that conversation about race, it wouldn’t have been possible if Obama hadn’t been elected,” she said. “I always felt open with my colleagues, but to say to a stranger on the train, ‘Hey, I’m sorry about slavery,’ that just doesn’t happen.”

Update:

See what I mean?

Taking the fight to the enemy

A good idea over on Science Based Medicine: try to get NCCAM defunded.

As you may or may not know, Change.gov is being used by Obama’s team to solicit policy ideas. Americans submit ideas, along with supporting rationale, and people “vote up” or vote down” the proposals. “Up” votes increase the score of the proposals, and “down” votes decrease the score.

This is one of PZ Meyers’ good projects.

It’s a huge boondoggle, a fat earmark for low-quality pseudoscience, and it’s money that would be better spent on real science and medicine. Sign up at change.gov and vote it up!

Here’s where you can vote it up. Don’t let Deepak Chopra and his minions outvote science! There’s always the nonzero chance that someone at the risibly-named “Office of the President Elect” will actually listen.

More background on the NCCAM here and here.

A funny aside: The “prove you’re a human” text I had to enter at Obama’s site was “riding tied”. Kinda kinky over there, I guess.

Anyway, please note that it’ll make you create an account when you try to vote, but you’ll have to go back and vote again after creating your account. Also, as pointed out in the comments, writing letters is also a good idea.

Top 10 Incredible Early Firsts in Photography

Ever wondered who took the first photograph, and when?

Hey, if they can print paper

why can’t we?

InstaPundit says

Why wait until the government gets around to issuing them in 2011, when they’ll buy a single measly gallon of gas? They’re also amusing at parties.

I’m back to not being able to discern between an Obama Salute and an Obama Parody. I know to which use I’d put it.

Why do professors deplore enterprise?

TigerHawk has some ideas.

Before I read the article I was going to say it’s because they know they’re being paid without the expectation of actual productivity. It’s an unnatural, infantilized state.