the McCloy precedent

Ben Sakoguchi, Postcards from Camp series [acrylic on canvas], 1999-2000
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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.
Oath of Office for President, US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
A fine oath avowed under Bush’s tacky play of an all American brave man makes a certain quotation from Shakespeare’s Hamlet cross one’s mind. When Polonius asks Hamlet, what do you read, my lord?, the answer comes quick-witted: words, words, words. Of course, Hamlet was not, could not be a mockingbird. Let’s just say this post bears an unequivocal intent to kill a mockingbird.