Michael Newdow is suing John Roberts and a slew of others over the words “so help me God” in the oath of office to be administered to Barack Obama. And he had John Roberts served at home.
Here is his complaint, complete with e-mail address.
Pronounced "Patter-EE-koh"
E-mail: Just use my moniker Patterico, followed by the @ symbol, followed by gmail.com
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What a genius this guy is. Asshat.
Chris (ce5d67) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:51 amWould the problem be solved if Obama said “so help me Allah” instead?
Official Internet Data Office (6180d5) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:52 amAnd did Roberts say “Jesus!” when he got served?
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:57 amNewdow is a moral degenerate animal.
I hope they sanction him for filing a frivolous lawsuit. Apart from the merits issue, I’m sure Newdow doesn’t even have standing to sue.
Alan (551a6d) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:58 amby Grabthar’s hammer… by the Sons of Warvan… you shall be… avenged.
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:00 amThis country doesn’t have enough problems, now we have to deal with fundamentalist atheists!
Assuming that Newdow’s latest Pledge of Allegience reaches the Supreme Court, would Roberts be expected or required to recuse himself based on this lawsuit?
aunursa (1b5bad) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:00 amThree words about Newdow: “What A Jerk”
Actually I pulled my punch with that last word–had another word with four letters, not safe for polite company.
Mike Myers (674050) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:01 amaunursa #6,
It would be entirely up to him. Nobody could make him. SCOTUS Justices are each the sole judge of their ability to hear the case fairly.
nk (2a3e35) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:04 amSeems Mr. Newdow needs to go back read Article 2 of the Constitution of the United States. The words “So help me God” are NOT part of the oath of office. Washington added them when he took the oath and most presidents have followed the tradition. So the Chief Justice just needs to administer the oath as written in Article 2.
Sarge (1278ef) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:17 amWell, that’s what freedom is all about; right? Newdow wants to take away the fundamental right of Barack Obama, a professed believer, to say “so help me, God” when he takes the oath. Furthermore, he wants to take away the fundamental right of John Roberts to say “so help me, God” when he reads out the oath for Obama to repeat. In addition, he wants to change a procedural matter through action by a court of law, rather than by a process enacted by the people’s elected representatives.
Question: Which is worse — Obama saying “so help me, God”? or, Newdow saying “you’re not allowed to say ‘so help me, God'”?
Icy Texan (b7d162) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:21 amAnyway, anything that pulls the transcendental O’Ears down to the muck of this mundane plane (embarasses the Jugster and screws up his inauguration) is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
nk (2a3e35) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:26 amWhat ever Mr. Newdow is paying his lawyer, he got cheated. The Supremes can simply give Mr. Newdow the Berg treatment, deny him standing. The Supremes don’t recognize citizens as having standing to sue their goverment.
DavidL (02e14f) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:40 am#12 DavidL: Newdow is a lawyer who argued his own Pledge cases.
aunursa (1b5bad) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:51 amMaybe the 9th Circuit should put Mr. Newdow on their ‘vexatious litigant’ list.
wkrebs (c6c2c6) — 1/13/2009 @ 8:58 amI don’t understand what drives Newdow. He is an ER doc in Sacramento who got a law degree somewhere and has a hobby of suing that began with his daughter. She is not in his custody and he was never married to the mother who will have nothing to do with him. At the time of his lawsuit about the Pledge, the daughter was attending Christian school. His suit had no effect on her except, possibly, to further estrange him (if possible) from her mother. This is some sort of weird obsession with him. The guy is a weirdo. If I were on the medical board, I would keep an eye on him. Weirdos in one area are often odd in others.
Mike K (ee3203) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:05 amThe first Inauguration scene in the HBO mini series on John Adams where David Morse plays George Washington is done well.
SPQR (72771e) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:10 amThe Chief Justice of the United States does administer the Presidential oath of office, but it’s just a tradition, not a job specificed by the Constitution.
Official Internet Data Office (333abc) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:13 amI wasted a bit of ink and printed out the complaint. As nearly as I can tell, the Plaintiffs are claiming that hearing the words “so help me God” and the invocation and benediction by two clergymen would hurt their feelings, and remind them of things that they see as just terrible, terrible things. Most of them state that they plan to watch the inauguration on television, though some state that they wish to attend in person.
Now, perhaps their televisions are less capable than mine, but mine comes with both a mute button and an off switch; if there’s something to which I do not wish to listen, why, shockingly enough, I don’t listen to it! Practically speaking, the Plaintiffs have all been forewarned that there may be Religious Content, and they even know when it will occur; it’s not like they’ll have to fumble for the remote without notice.
I wonder if our Chicago barrister would accept my proposed lawsuit against Mr Newdow et al, for causing me untold grief and stress in worrying that my right to hear the next President conclude his Oath of Office with “so help me God” might be infringed upon by their lawsuit.
The practical Dana (3e4784) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:23 amNo Life Newdow strikes again. The guy needs to be smacked around with a Louisville Slugger with “de minimis” etched on it.
M. Scott Eiland (5ccff0) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:36 amHere’s a suggestion for Mr. Newdow and those of his Ilk:
1. If watching the
SeniorD (50f696) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:42 amCoronationInauguration, turn the sound off;2. If listening on the radio, see # 1 above;
3. When all else fails, retreat to your ‘Happy Place’ until the entire ceremony is over.
“Won’t anyone rid me of this meddlesome (lawyer)?”
AD (6e9550) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:42 am[…] in 1861. Perhaps Miss Downey would like to forbid that as well. _______________________ Update: Patterico, as always, is on the case, and he kindly linked the .pdf file of the complaint filed. The .pdf includes the email addresses […]
Common Sense Political Thought » Blog Archive » Let them be rankled (73d96f) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:44 amHearing the words, “Congratulations, President Obama,” will hurt my feelings. Who do I sue over that?
Icy Texan (b7d162) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:48 amNewdow gives obnoxious, in-your-face atheists a bad name.
spongeworthy (c2e8fe) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:52 amThe RNC…
Fred Thompson is also going to, at the least, get a stern letter from my lawyer…
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:53 amNewdow is just mad because his wife never said “Oh My God!” about him, and he has never forgiven her or God for it.
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/13/2009 @ 10:21 amWeren’t there reports of Mr. Newdow dancing naked around a Festivus Pole awhile back?
Old Coot (f036b5) — 1/13/2009 @ 10:36 amIn the words of the immortal W.C. Fields when cornered by a Louie B. Mayer flunkie and asked when he would return to the set “Give him an evasive answer, tell him to go bleep himself”
glenn (fcbc78) — 1/13/2009 @ 11:01 am[…] H/T: Patterico’s Pontifications […]
Suing a Chief Justice | Axis of Right (4bdcf7) — 1/13/2009 @ 11:11 amAP: Michael Newdow’s bullet riddled corpse was recovered from a dumpster early this morning.
Heh, had you going, didn’t I?
Mark (238b23) — 1/13/2009 @ 11:16 amMark, it would have been better if he’d been struck by a lightning bolt, and a note found nearby reading, “NOW do you believe I exist???”
Steverino (69d941) — 1/13/2009 @ 11:53 amI sent him an email telling him to get over himself. As many people as he annoys with his quixotic nonsense, I figure the least he he deserves is several thousand emails.
Dodd (fbfada) — 1/13/2009 @ 11:56 amCan you really sue a Congressional committee?
mojo (8096f2) — 1/13/2009 @ 12:01 pmYou can hear Christopher Hitchens icly saying “Newwwwdowww.”
Giving athiests a bad name.
Actually, Newdow’s problem is an old one, a respresented in this story.
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/13/2009 @ 1:02 pmDr. and lawyer, Michael Newdow is quite a phenomenon. I “Googled” him quite extensively when he was active in trying to get his daughters school to remove references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance in the Sacramento School District about 5 years ago. There was a lot more of his activities and background on the Internet at the time.
Newdow is the son of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who were committed atheists and communists. It’s in his genes and his upbringing to attempt to rid this world of the Czar, priests, religion and private property. It’s his own form of “religion”. I’ll wager he was catatonic when the Soviet Union crumbled. Newdow is a few proletariats shy of a manifesto. If his mental illness were more profound he would be an assassin. For now, like Lee Oswald and Leon Czolgosz (McKinley’s assassin) before their profound acts, Newdow is only a public gadfly. Only time and chance will write the last sentence of Newdow’s pained existence upon this earth.
C. Norris (f1bbb4) — 1/13/2009 @ 1:14 pmI’m an atheist. Michael Newdow pisses me off. He doesn’t speak for me, and he doesn’t speak for most atheists, in my opinion.
Andy (c8f54b) — 1/13/2009 @ 1:46 pmShe is not in his custody and he was never married to the mother who will have nothing to do with him.
Color me shocked at that statement.
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 1/13/2009 @ 2:07 pmAtheist: There is no god.
Questioner: Are you serious?
Atheist, raising right hand: Swear to God.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 2:11 pmOops, disclaimer, this is no attack on the Andy above. I just felt the old stand-by joke fitting for the subject at hand.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 2:13 pmJust remember, as much as Newdow says God doesn’t exist, when God says Newdow doesn’t exist, Newdow won’t exist while God does.
PCD (7fe637) — 1/13/2009 @ 2:21 pmPeople like Newdow re-affirm my wish that I were obscenely rich (“Pretty Woman” reference). I’ve on many occasions had this intricate daydream involving filing lawsuits against all plaintiffs involved in nearly all ACLU lawsuits, among others. I would have an LLC full of staff attorneys that would run around filing all these lawsuits. And the daydream continues on…
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 2:28 pmTake it away Randy!
David Ehrenstein (ca6f57) — 1/13/2009 @ 4:10 pm“I would have an LLC full of staff attorneys that would run around filing all these lawsuits.”
Would you cover their Rule 11 sanctions too? nice guy.
imdw (23c2b4) — 1/13/2009 @ 4:21 pmUpon reading Rule 11 I found nothing that would prevent my attorneys from filing those lawsuits. At least nothing the ACLU doesn’t already do. And the LLC itself could be the signatory. LLC goes bankrupt, pay another $500 to set up another LLC, re-hire attorneys, continue to shove my money into LLC on a weekly basis.
The LLC doesn’t have to be profitable, after all.
But of course, you yell “Rule 11” when someone suggests doing to the ACLU what the ACLU does to everyone else.
the politically incorrect John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 4:32 pmNewdow’s favorite thing is staring into his navel. It is facinating what he finds in there.
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/13/2009 @ 4:54 pmAn example of what I’m talking about is that lawsuit in PA a few years back.
A kid creates a website listing multiple reasons why either his principle or his math teacher should be murdered and solicits money to pay for a hit-man to kill the other one. The school expels him. The parents sue the school for violating the kid’s free speech rights.
I would sue the parents for making all schools more life-threatening as a result of their behavior.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 4:55 pmI am a believer, and it makes me laugh to hear someone that SAYS he doesn’t believe in God get so riled up about someone else talking about God. It he truly doesn’t believe, it would be the same as someone standing up and saying, “So help me Elmo.” That doesn’t offend me! What he’s truly saying, on a deep subconscious level (IMHO), is that he DOES believe in God and is afraid of others ability to put their faith in Him. His need to control the individual standing up for the president, be it a minister, rabbi, best friend…is very telling. Why does he REALLY care?
I do find it a little ironic that the plea at the end of his lawsuit is PRAYER FOR RELIEF. Tee-hee!
yourlilsis (9d1ada) — 1/13/2009 @ 6:02 pmIf God is acknowledged, then Newdow himself can’t be the greatest thing in the universe. You can see his dilemma, can’t you?
ras (20bd5b) — 1/13/2009 @ 6:29 pmI’ve followed this clown’s antics for years. I’ve always wondered when he would campaign to change the name of his “hometown” anything but Sacramento. How can he live in a city/county named after Catholic sacraments? Where is his drive to abolish the word “San” the worker’s paradise of San Francisco? My fear is these campaigns just might get some traction in CA these days
SoCal expat in TN (426e74) — 1/13/2009 @ 6:47 pmYou’re not suggesting Saint Francis would be offended by the pro-gay anti-god nature of his quivering namesake, are you?
I feel the earth moving under my feet.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 6:57 pmYou conservatives are loony. The linked document is really long and looks really official.
SEK (072055) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:02 pmIt’s harder the get a law license than to keep one, especially, apparently, in California.
Brian (895729) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:10 pm“And the LLC itself could be the signatory”
Good luck with that.
“I would sue the parents for making all schools more life-threatening as a result of their behavior.”
You’re willing to spend lots of money. How much are you willing to pay someone to tell you how dumb this idea is?
imdw (7c3f14) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:17 pmImdw, did you miss where this whole thing was a daydream? Somehow, I think that might be mildly important.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:21 pmimdw, if nothing else, prides himself on his practicality.
AD (6e9550) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:29 pmDr. Nedow should learn two things before continuing.
James McEnanly (c5c6e0) — 1/13/2009 @ 7:33 pm1.) There is a Higher Power in this universe.
2.) He isn’t it.
I think that, if Newdow really feels this way, he should rush the podium and stop Obama from saying the hated words.
Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 1/13/2009 @ 9:47 pmI’ve often wondered about Madalyn Murray O’Hare’s final thoughts.
poodlemom (869020) — 1/13/2009 @ 10:29 pmI thought atheism was a religion. Why is Newdow forcing his beliefs on me?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/13/2009 @ 10:36 pmI’ve often wondered about Madalyn Murray O’Hare’s final thoughts.
Comment by poodlemom
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peedoffamerican (36d97e) — 1/14/2009 @ 2:15 amI say, rather than saying “so help me, God,” let Obama say “so bite me, Newdow.” That should make everyone happy.
Xrlq (62cad4) — 1/14/2009 @ 3:59 am60, O’Hair’s thoughts were, “Oh, gee, will the worms eat me?” (Allusion to a quote she made on the Phil Donahue Show)
PCD (7fe637) — 1/14/2009 @ 6:42 amAs long as Juggy does not say “so help me God, damn America”. Or have we forgotten that, already?
nk (9097f8) — 1/14/2009 @ 11:24 amWill B Hussein Obama show any deference to the US Flag or will he show marked indifference now that he doesn’t have to put on a show anymore?
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/14/2009 @ 11:34 am