Claim: The Obama administration is planning to have military members pledge a loyalty oath directly to the President rather than to the Constitution.
FALSE
Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2009]
Military to Pledge Oath To Obama, Not Constitution
Conservative News and Reporting
"News for the Rest of Us"
Michele Chang
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is extremely frustrated with orders that the White House is contemplating. According to sources at the Pentagon, including all branches of the armed forces, the Obama Administration may break with a centuries-old tradition.
A spokesman for General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, states that the Obama Administration wants to have soldiers and officers pledge a loyalty oath directly to the office of the President, and no longer to the Constitution.
[Rest of article here.]
Origins: The above-referenced
January 2009 item about the Obama administration's purportedly planning to have soldiers and officers of the
In case the basis of this spoof is not apparent to some modern readers, we note that one of the first actions undertaken by Adolf Hitler when he assumed power over Germany after the death of Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934 was to require military and civil service members to pledge an oath of loyalty to himself personally rather than to Germany, its people, or its constitution.
Last updated: 3 February 2009