What's HE doing there?

Michael Mukasey was sworn in as Attorney-General in a small ceremony last Friday. Today, he is to take the oath of office again, this time in a public rite, in front of hundreds of Justice Department employees. The oath will be delivered by none other than the Chief Justice, John Roberts. The President will also attend, and deliver some well-chosen remarks. Or, some not-so-well-chosen words.

There's no need for this folderol. Calvin Coolidge, on learning of the demise of Warren G. Harding, took the oath of office from his father, a local judge, in the front room of his family's home in Vermont. That was all the inauguration he got, until elected in his own right in 1924. Lyndon Johnson, as we know from the famous photo, was sworn in on Air Force One, just after President Kennedy was pronounced dead.

Mukasey's most important job, to the country, if not to the administration, is to restore confidence in the independence and professionalism of the Justice Department. To that end, having W attend his public swearing-in is not a good idea.

But what's the Chief Justice doing there? Isn't he lending his imprimatur to a partisan event--sponsored by this most partisan of administrations? And isn't it just a teensy bit unseemly for him to be presiding over the installation of the top guy at what is, in effect, the largest law firm, working for the most powerful and most frequent party in cases to come before the high court? The rules of ethics say that a judge should not give even the appearance of impropriety. I'm not sure that the Chief Justice is doing that, but it's not an event that will add lustre to him or his office.