Chief Justice Roberts delivered an incredible insult to the office of the President by mishandling the oath of office. It's difficult to imagine how he could have so mixed up the proper order of the words, and in the process repeatedly interrupt President Obama.
This has been discussed of course, to the point where Chris Wallace of Fox News has questioned whether in fact Barack Obama is actually president based on the misdelivery of the oath.
The truly outrageous aspect of Judge Roberts' performance was that he delivered the final words, "So help me God," as an inquiry: "So help YOU, GOD?"
First, you can view how Roberts flubbed the whole thing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6RZCf2F_UQ
For comparison, check out how Rehnquist slowly walked George W. Bush through his oath in 2005, feeding him bite-sized, 2- or 3-word phrases that are repeated verbatim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2B8-RME13I
The final words, "So help me God," are delivered as a statement, not an inquiry. It's as if Roberts were conducting an inquistion...
The key here is that the administrator of the oath is supposed to deliver the words in the first person, which the oath-taker repeats verbatim. The weird shift to the second person, and the transformation of the statement into a question, is truly baffling.
Roberts either has some subconscious resistance to swearing in this particular president, or at worst intended to sow seeds of discord.
