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Yes the subject line is correct. Now that the excitement of the inauguration is behind us, it is, time that we stop the tiptoe around the misreading by Justice Roberts while administering the oath of office to President Obama. It's time that we call it for what it is; a classical Freudian slip. However, it appears that everyone is willing to brush it off as insufficient.
By calling it what it's; I feel like the child who said that the Emperor was naked while everyone else saw "The Emperor's New Clothes."
To say that this is simply a minor error, or as George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley call it "the chief justice wardrobe malfunction" may further the ideals of political correctness, but fall short of explaining the real problem.
It does not explain why a Harvard graduate, experienced law professor and Chief of the Supreme Court stumble while administering a 35-word oath of office to the first Black President of the United State. Yes Mr. Obama is Black; and no one suggest that Justice Roberts is a racist. However in this instance, race does matter. If Mr. Obama was white the excitement surrounding the primary and inauguration national and international would have been with less uproar and more measured.
The reason I believe that Freudian slip is fuel that powesr the engine which caused Justice Roberts to misread the oath; nothing else explained such irrational behavior.
Just consider for a moment, the first Black President of the United States with a Muslim name, being sworn into office by the chief Justice from the opposing political party, and Mr. Obama voted against Justice Roberts' confirmation to the Supreme Court.
The history between these two men is charged with political, professional, social, and competitive tension. Under these conditions both individuals bring to the verbal exchange conscious and subconscious dialogues. Justice Roberts Freudian slip is the consequent of the subconscious dialogue.
