If this is a glimpse of the future coverage and reporting of the president, then I suppose we're in for even more chuckles--and bewilderment--at the antics of AP and FOX News in the coming years:
Chief Justice John Roberts swore in President-elect Barack Obama as president of the United States on Tuesday, helping him through a slight stumble in the first of what could be many important interactions between [them]...
UPDATE: I should mention, too, that an hour after the oath, FOX News' Chris Wallace questioned whether Obama was actually president--due to the fumbling of the oath. You can't make this up.
It's to be expected that an outlet like FOX News would paint a revisionist history of the Bush years for its viewers; it does so overtly and cheerfully. But even the Associated Press seems to have attempted a revision of the (very obvious) history that just happened today.
It was obvious indeed--to anyone who watched the oath and is familiar with the oath--that the Chief Justice, and not the president, fumbled the inaugural oath.
Want proof?
But ah, if citizens were to seek a recap of what happened from the oh-so-trusty FOXNews.com (carrying the oh-so-reputable AP's report), then they would learn what really happened this afternoon...
Separated by a Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inaugural, Roberts asked Obama: "Are you prepared to take the oath senator?"
Obama indicated he was, and Roberts started reciting -- and Obama repeating -- the 35-word oath that is prescribed by the Constitution.
But at one point early on, Obama paused, as if grasping for the next words. Roberts helped him over the brief awkward moment, repeating a few words to get Obama back on track.
I'm not being nitpicky here. As one commenter points out below, the AP and FOX are no stranger to distortions, and both have already inflated the cost of the inauguration to be significantly larger than Bush's in 2005. On this day of celebration and pageantry, there is also a lesson: Remember who to trust in the next four years. Expect distortions like this in the mainstream media, both big and small--and never be afraid to dig for the truth or, in this case, see it clearly with your own eyes.
I leave you with this doozy of a commentary from FOX News' Chris Wallace--words that actually did come out of his mouth today:
"Well, again, we're wondering here whether or not Barack Obama in fact is the president of the United States," Chris Wallace told Fox News viewers, well over an hour after Obama had taken the oath of office today.
Fox News replayed the swearing-in moment when President Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. each bobbled the words to the constitutional oath. "They had a kind of garbled oath," Wallace said.
"It's just conceivable that this will end up going to the courts," Wallace speculated.