CIA director John Brennan swore the oath of office Friday on an original copy of the constitution, the White House announced, which at first sounds pretty cool.
Better than a Bible – everybody does the Bible. The copy is from 1787, and it apparently has George Washington's personal handwriting and annotations on it and everything. They keep it in a protective manila folder, visible in an official photo of the moment.
So far, so charming – except for one detail:
Presumably lacking some of the peskier rights. MT @vp: VP swears in CIA Director Brennan w/ Washington's 1st draft of the Constitution.
— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) March 8, 2013
The founders were quick about the Bill of Rights, ratifying them in 1791. But the constitution was passed without them. A pre-ratification draft of the constitution certainly would not have included them. The fifth amendment's guarantee of due process before the law? Brennan's wife's not holding it and Brennan ain't swearing on it.
It's not like the document you swear on matters. None who swear on the Bible are bound thereby to keep the sabbath. You could swear on Our Bodies, Our Selves, probably. The book is just a symbol that the oath-taker is being serious.
As a symbol, though, in this particular case, given that the oath-taker is the man in charge of choosing those people who don't qualify for due process but instead must be executed immediately – in this case it might not have hurt to stick a copy of amendment number five in there.
Or maybe one of Washington's annotations counsels caution in the use of armed drones.
