# Are Majs Hoolihan and Burns insubordinate?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-majs-hoolihan-and-burns-insubordinate/795917>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 9, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-majs-hoolihan-and-burns-insubordinate/795917 "2017-09-09T17:42:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-majs-hoolihan-and-burns-insubordinate/795917/1 "2017-09-09T17:42:38Z")

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Sorry, but _M_A_S_H\* is on endless rerun blocks on at least three of the lame channels mom’s cable company gives here, and I can’t escape it. It was a fun show back in the '70’s, but now strung together, I’m finding myself in nitpick mode again.

Margret and Frank are often accusing Henry of being a poor commander, and its funny because its true. But the episode, “The Trial of Henry Blake”, although full of slapstick (big red bird with fuzzy pink feet) and the usual one-liners, does have Henry accused of giving aid to the enemy.

Would Henry have been executed if Hawkeye had failed to _Frank’s wife ex machina_ a solution?

Was Hawkeye in danger of execution in the episode “The Novocaine Mutiny”?

Are people allowed to bring charges against their superiors, lose them on a technicality, and then be required to keep working under their command? Because that seems really awkward, and not what the military would want.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-majs-hoolihan-and-burns-insubordinate/795917/2 "2017-09-09T17:48:11Z")

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No, no and no.

The true nature of the aid would have come out and Henry would have gotten a slap on the wrist. Without supporting witnesses (Margaret doesn’t count, and wouldn’t count at a formal court martial) the charges would have been dismissed, and the reason they all continued serving together was TV.

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**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-majs-hoolihan-and-burns-insubordinate/795917/3 "2017-09-09T19:36:11Z")

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So reprimand, reassign, and back to normal, eh? And if facts turned out in Henry’s favor later, they just say “Oops”, and he gets a clear record. That does seem like par for the course. Its just that Henry says they can hang his ass from a flagpole, and I’m thinking … No Henry, they’re gonna hang you from your neck until you’re dead.