Update (11:59): Wow, even I screwed up what the oath is supposed to be. I thought it was "I do solemnly swear to faithfully execute..." but it's actually "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute..."
"Will execute" is the bare infinitive, not the full infinitive ("to execute"). Therefore, "Will faithfully execute" isn't a split infinitive, and I got too cute by half in titling my post. But my core point has nothing to do with verb tenses and still holds.
Original post:
Somebody's probably already said this, but when Roberts botched the oath (forgetting to split the infinitive "to execute" with "faithfully"), it was obvious that both he and President Obama quickly realized his screw-up.
What really struck me about the moment is that Obama's first impulse wasn't to correct Roberts on this relatively trivial error, but rather it was to continue along with the oath, helping Roberts save face.
Now personally I don't think John Roberts needs any face-saving, but I'm glad that we have a President whose first reaction was driven by a combination of empathy and a desire to salvage the best out of an imperfect situation.
Those are two qualities we're going to need a lot of in the next few years, and we're fortunate to have them in our President.
© Jed Lewison