Scott's Folly

TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES

PART III--EMPLOYEES

Subpart B--Employment and Retention

CHAPTER 33--EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT

SUBCHAPTER II--OATH OF OFFICE

Sec. 3331. Oath of office

An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an
office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services,
shall take the following oath: ``I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith
and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and
faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to
enter. So help me God.'' This section does not affect other oaths
required by law.

(Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 424.)


It was announced on the White House South Lawn. The day was foggy and the smell of rain was in the air. The President was standing alongside Ari Fleisher, the outgoing Press Secretary and Scott McClellan. The President announced that Ari was leaving and Scott was going to take the position. The President stated that he looked “forward to working closely with him to make sure that the American people, and, of course, the press corps, gets the information that's needed to reflect the philosophy and the decision making of this administration.”

As a student of forensic interviewing I see a world of issues in the brief statement made by the President that windy day in June. He states, “...gets the information that’s needed...” as opposed to the information that is not needed. A truer statement showing transparency would have been, “I look forward to working closely with Scott to ensure that the American people are informed about the decisions made by this administration."

Scott likely swore the oath of office sometime around July 14, 2003, when Ari officially left the White House. He raised his right hand before the office of the President and stated,” I, Scott McClellan, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” I am not positive that McClellan swore this oath. However, he was a presidental appointee and so should have. Regardless, his responsibility was and is to the people.
Scott did not swear his allegiance to George W. Bush. He did not swear his allegiance to the Office of the President. He did not even swear his allegiance to the government. Scott McClellan swore allegiance and swore to defend the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States is the will of the people put to parchment. It is the people. Scott swore allegiance to us, the American People.

Scott apparently did not live up to his oath for a long time. Now he has. Some critics say that he is disingenuous for writing dirt on his boss. I say we are his bosses and I, for one, am glad he has found the courage to finally live up to his oath.