'Just to Be Safe,' Obama Should Redo Oath: Experts

OK, it's probably not going to come up in court, but some constitutional lawyers tell the San Francisco Chronicle that Barack Obama should retake his flubbed oath just to be on the safe side. Presidents Coolidge and Arthur did after similar gaffes. It "would take him 30 seconds, he can do it in private, it's not a big deal, and he ought to do it just to be safe," said a Boston University constitutional scholar. "It's an open question whether he's president until he takes the proper oath."

“This is the chief justice’s version of a wardrobe malfunction,” says a law professor at George Washington University, who adds that a child attending his inauguration party called out Roberts’ mistake. “Obama should probably go ahead and take the oath again. If he doesn’t, there are going to be people who for the next 4 years are going to argue that he didn’t meet the constitutional standard.” (More Barack Obama stories.)