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In "The Promise: President Obama, Year One," by Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter, the author recounts a series of private blow-ups -- including a particularly fiery one involving the nation's top military brass. "A presidential dressing down unlike any in the United States in more than half a century," is how Alter describes the October 2009 eruption.

In an Oval Office showdown, Obama told Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus that he was "exceedingly unhappy" with the Pentagon's conduct, Alter reported, adding that its leaks to the press were "disrespectful of the process."

"This was a cold and bracing meeting," an attendee said of the encounter, where Obama demanded to know "here and now" if the Pentagon would be onboard with any presidential strategy.

It apparently worked: Petraeus later described himself as "chagrined," and both he and Gates "swore loyalty" to the President. Obama eventually supported a troop buildup.

WTF! -- "he [Petraeus] and Gates "swore loyalty" to the President.

WTF! -- they can't do that! -- military officers swear to defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic -- military officers have no business swearing loyalty to a man -- this isn't NAZI Germany -- or is it?