From the Presidential Inaugural Committee:
Washington, D.C. - On January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. The Bible is currently part of the collections of the Library of Congress.
I know it's just symbolic, but I wish there was someone to disabuse me of the notion that Obama is the second coming of Lincoln. Oh, wait.
But there's a more sinister parallel; the press release notes that the bible in question was used by then-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger B. Taney to swear in the great emancipator. Taney was, of course, the gentleman who wrote the opinion in Dredd Scott v. Sandford, which infamously codified the "inferiority" of black Americans and allowed for the spread of slavery in new federal territories. I wouldn't compare Taney to John Roberts, but if Obama is the president he'd like us to believe he is, having Rick Warren deliver the invocation is about as ironic as seeing Taney elevate the man who would destroy slavery.
--Tim Fernholz
