A Stitch in Haste

A theocrat in Congress, James “Randy” Forbes of Virginia, in groveling supplication to both God and Dear Leader, has proposed putting the Lincoln Bible — which is now of course the “Lincoln-Obama Bible” — on permanent display in the Capitol Rotunda.

That in and of itself is not especially problematic, in my opinion. (For background on Supreme Court precedent regarding such displays, see this post.) For better or worse, the book is part of American political history and should be afforded the recognition it deserves as a public, historical and strictly secular icon.

Yeah, right — in your dreams…

Whereas each one of the 43 presidents of the United States since George Washington on April 30, 1789, has commenced his term of office by placing his hand upon the Holy Bible and solemnly swearing the Constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States;

Whereas the Holy Bible is God’s Word;

Whereas each President, after taking the oath of office, has repeated President Washington’s petition prayer seeking divine help by saying, ‘So help me God’;

Behold the “wizened statecraft” of this pathetic simpleton. First and third, he simply butchers history.

It is simply not true that every president took the constitutional oath upon a Bible. If the illiterate cretin (or any member of his no doubt numerous staff) had spent more than two minutes on Google, then he would know that at least two presidents — John Quincy Adams and Theodore Roosevelt — refused to use a Bible at inauguration; Franklin Pierce affirmed rather than swore.

As for the Lie That Won’t Die — that George Washington added “so help me God…” to the constitutional oath of office — suffice it to recall that the Lie was begun, knowingly and maliciously, by a Christian cleric. A lying Christian? It wasn’t the first time, and it wasn’t the last time.

But we must not let our shock and disgust that a Member of Congress flunked basic American history distract us from that second quoted “Whereas” — the one that seeks to declare definitively, as a matter of federal law, that the one of the countless versions of the “Holy Bible is God’s Word.”

I’m usually able to divine at least some part of the argument that the other side makes. Even Ken Starr’s embarrassing blather during the Prop 8 oral arguments had some kernel of not-pure-insanity — something to which I could start my assault with, “Okay, I see where he’s coming from and going to here…”

But this? It’s “1 + 1 = 3” again. How do you refute someone proposing such a “Whereas” except to slap him upside the head? What could possibly work except to strap Forbes down and tattoo the text of the Establishment Clause backwards on his forehead — so that every time he looks at himself in the mirror he’ll be reminded of his total and absolute failure as an intellectual, a politician, and an American?

Remember: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty…

(Via Religion Clause.)

Previously:
–In Honor of President’s Day: On Washington’s Religion
–One Nation, Under A Generic Monotheistic Deity
–From the Archives: On Roy Moore on the Motto