&gt; They took an oath to defend the Constitution<p>Wow, I didn&#x27;t know that. Well it figures - when oaths or promises like this are demanded by an institution (university, army, government) for the advancement of career, it isn&#x27;t hard to guess that most people will comply, despite their actual feelings and goals. The whole concept of public oath seems to be in place mainly to maintain the public belief in the institution, rather than actual procurement of allegiance.