婆娑美麗的太平洋

對中國一向忠實的中時有報導如下:


上任第二天 歐巴馬重宣誓

2009-01-23
中國時報
【楊明暐／綜合華盛頓廿一日外電報導】

　 　美國總統歐巴馬廿日宣誓就職，不過聯邦最高法院首席大法官羅伯茨引領他宣讀誓詞時，將「忠實」這一副詞的順序搞錯。而為求慎重，歐巴馬廿一日於白宮重新宣誓。

　這次宣誓於傍晚七時卅五分在白宮「地圖廳」舉行，同樣由羅伯茨監誓。羅伯茨問歐巴馬是否已準備好，歐巴馬答道：「準備好了，我們慢慢來吧。」接著他便跟著羅伯茨，將卅五字的誓詞念了一遍，前後花了廿五秒。

　與前一天不同的是，歐巴馬這次並未使用《聖經》，夫人、女兒也不在身邊，且沒有百萬群眾觀禮。除了歐巴馬和羅伯茨，地圖廳裡只有少數幕僚。

　歐巴馬廿日在就職大典宣誓成為美國第四十四位總統。首席大法官羅伯茨引領他念誓詞時，沒有照著小抄唸，僅憑記憶，卻誤將「我一定忠實執行合眾國總統職務」（I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States）中的「忠實」（faithfully）擺到句尾。

　然而按照美國憲法，到廿日中午，歐巴馬就算沒有宣誓，依然成為美國總統。法律顧問克雷格書面聲明宣稱廿日當天的宣誓有效，歐巴馬也已就任總統。但因先前的宣誓有個字順序不對，為求慎重，首席大法官羅伯茨再次主持了一次宣誓儀式。



不過華盛頓郵報的報導是這樣的:

Obama Sworn In Again, With Right Words

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2009; Page A04

In golf, they call it a mulligan. A do-over.

There's no formal name for what President Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did last night.

After flubbing his one role on Inauguration Day -- administering the oath of office to Obama -- Roberts traveled to the White House to re-administer the oath.

Just to make sure.

"We decided it was so much fun . . .," Obama joked while sitting on a couch in the Map Room. Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool reporters as Roberts donned his black robe.

"Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked.

"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied.

After a flawless recitation that included no Bible and took 25 seconds, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations, again."

Obama said, "Thank you, sir," and then added: "All right. The bad news for the [reporters] is there's 12 more balls."

A president is required by the Constitution to say, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

At the inauguration, Roberts instead said: "that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully."

憲法規定總统宣誓就職時必須唸："我謹誓言，我必忠實執行合眾國總統職務，並竭盡全力，恪守、維護和捍衛合眾國憲法。”
在就職典禮時，羅伯特大法官只唸了"我必忠實執行合眾國總統職務。" (補正: 歐巴馬當時的確有唸後面那段"並竭盡全力，恪守、維護和捍衛合眾國憲法。"只是前面那句字的順序不一樣CNN影片)

In a statement, White House counsel Greg Craig said the oath was re-administered "out of an abundance of caution."

"We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the President was sworn in appropriately yesterday. But the oath appears in the Constitution itself," Craig's statement said.

白宮顧問Greg Craig在一份聲明裡指出，重新宣誓只是因為"極度謹慎。""我們認為宣誓有效，且總統昨日已接受合宜的受命程序。但是憲法記載誓辭如此。"

Two presidents -- Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur -- have retaken the oath because of unusual circumstances the first time around.

The Map Room ceremony was less grand than the original one in front of the throng on the Mall.

But it was certainly warmer.

關鍵在大字那兩段。重新宣誓出於對美國憲法的尊重。

美國憲法是拿來用的，國家體制，法律體系依照憲法組織，人民權利依靠憲法保障，政府權限根據憲法規範，憲法的地位崇高由來於此。總統因憲法產生並受任命，職責依憲法行使，權力受憲法限制，同時也要全力捍衛憲法。美國憲法從制定以來，不斷被檢討被修改，因時代演變而重整，因對於人權與自由的追求而進步。憲法的地位如此重要崇高，以致於總統宣誓就職時少唸一句要重來一次。

中國時爆的記者，不知道是英文程度實在太差，還是因為不懂憲法是個什麼東西，編了個「忠實」應該擺在哪裡的新聞出來。總統必須效忠憲法，憲法用來保護國民，所以總統必須效忠保護的是國民。這個道理，一向對中國忠實的中時應該是不會了解的吧？



(補充)

NPR這篇寫的更清楚一點。最後兩段說到:

Craig, the White House lawyer, said in a statement Wednesday evening: "We believe the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday. Yet the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of the abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath a second time."
白宮律師Craig 星期三晚間發布聲明表示："我們認為宣誓有效，且總統昨日已接受合宜的受命程序。但是憲法清楚記載誓辭如此。出於極度謹慎，因為有一個字的順序不對，John Roberts大法官將會再度主持宣誓。"

The Constitution is clear about the exact wording of the oath and as a result, some constitutional experts have said that a do-over probably wasn't necessary but also couldn't hurt. Two other previous presidents have repeated the oath because of similar issues, Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.
美國憲法詳實記載誓辭的每一個字每一個句子，因此有些憲法專家說重新宣誓大概不是必要，但是也無妨。有兩位以前的總統也曾因為類似的事件而重新宣誓:Calvin Coolidge以及 Chester A. Arthur。


中時的記者完全忽略掉美國憲法與重新宣誓的因果關係。這一段話不是小抄，而是完完整整地出現在憲法裡面。總統就職宣誓時的小錯誤也許無傷大雅，也不損害法律地位，但是對於憲法的尊重卻是絲毫不能放棄，因此要不嫌麻煩在形式上重做一次。此外這樣的想法和做法同時也反映了美國法制的精神：程序正義。不合正義的程序不能產生正確的結果。

文法和憲法都有法啦，但是差的可何止十萬八千里阿！













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