I was impressed with this performance before the Senate confirmation hearing where he displayed an absolute mastery of knowledge about US legal precedent and theory, and was even commended even by Biden as being one of the best Supreme Court candidates ever to testify before the Senate. I remember thinking to myself, that political differences aside, this was one of the most brilliant men I’d ever heard speak, his mastery of the law was breath taking.
I can’t see how remembering that oath correctly would have taken more than .0001 percent of this brain power. I guess even the most brilliant people can be flustered.
I would have thought something like this would have been practiced until they could do it in their sleep. I was really surprised how badly it was mangled.
I was pretty surprised as well, especially considering the oath is only 35 words long and Robert’s sole preeminent appearance in all of Tuesday’s event. Of course, as Loach said, maybe once you are in front of an audience of that size, everything else goes out the window.
The ways to have sudden brain lock under stress are many and varied. I have actually had a similar problem in front of a panel of judges so it was interesting to see a judge have it, too.
Earlyish in my carrer I stood in front of a panel of Judges for the Eleventh Circuit to argue the appeal of a case. I had made this self same argument repeatedly, I had tried the original case, and it might fairly be said I knew it forward and backward and in my sleep.
So I stood in front of them and gaped like a fish, of course. Getting the words out at all, mangled or not, would have been great but it did not happen. Happily my brain kicked in shortly thereafter, just as one of the judges had mercy on me and started to speak to break the evil spell. So we talked over one another and stuttered for a moment. Then I finally got it together and went on.
So while I did not expect such a thing, I did recognize it when it happened.
I think he overestimated the capacity of his memory in a stressful situation, and underestimated the effect of stage fright. If he’s called on to do something like this again, I hope he’ll bring a 3 by 5 card
Meh, I’m only surprised at what a huge deal has been made of it. “Mangled” is rather a strong word for what happened, and an unfortunately timed brain cramp is still just a brain cramp.
They met again later and performed the ceremony a second time as a precautionary measure even though most Constitutional scholars agreed it probably was unnecessary. From all accounts this second ceremony, sans the huge crowds, went more according to plan.
This NY Times op-ed theorizes that Roberts’ training & grammatical perfectionism simply could not let a split verb “will faithfully execute” pass though his lips without correction.
I’m gonna have to go with “Mangled”. It was bad enough that they felt they had to do it again. Plus, as historic footage it’s basically unusable for encapsulating this great moment without having it be WTF.
I watched his press secretary fend off stupid questions about this for way longer than should’ve been necessary. Some reporter was even calling into question the couple of executive orders signed before the do-over, and whether they needed to be re-signed. :rolleyes:
I don’t think analytical brain power has much to do with memorization power. I know people who are dumb as rocks who know every word to every Simpsons episode, and I know people who can perform complex multivariable calculus in their heads, but who couldn’t tell you their life-long zip code.
I’m surprised anyone would think having a masterful command of the law automatically means you won’t make mistakes in reciting a script from memory. These are two different talents.
It’s not really any different than any other skilled individual flubbing something simple. A football retriever dropping a pass that hits him in his hands, or a baseball outfielder misjudging an easy fly. Or a musician having a brainfart and coming in on the wrong count or hitting a wrong note.
Unusual, but it happens. No excuse for it, tho. The guy is at the very top of his field in which eloquence and mental acuity are prized. Perhaps he overestimated his ability, or did not adequately prepare. As someone said, it is 35 words long, and he knew he was going to have to administer it at some time during his tenure. Preparation of a 3x5 card would in itself probably have been enough to ensure that he recalled it perfectly.
I’ve seen enough judges be complete bastards to lawyers who have misspoken no greater than this. He’s lucky he didn’t have some pompous ass in robes ready to jump down his throat when he screwed up.
