Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and a Gentleman

I sometimes do things in public that my husband describes as "unseemly."

"Honey," I say, "it's not unseemly if no one sees it!"

Hubby says my cat's daily routine of shitting on the carpet at the foot of the stairs just to let him know that, even after seven years, this cat still has his undies in a twist over having to share Catmom with that man is unseemly, too, even though the only one who sees that is, well, Hubby.

So now I hear that a certain Lt. Ehren Watada is being court-martialed for "conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentlemen."

The charge strikes me as odd, and since I'm no legal eagle--just a (bi-lingual) writer and professor of language and literature--the first place I go to figure out why this strikes me as odd is the dictionary, not the penal code or (in this case) the Military Code of Conduct.

Let's start with "Ehren": my Langenscheidt's German-English dictionary lists among its definitions for the noun "Ehren" "honors, laurels." In the verbal form "ehren"-"to honor, to respect, to revere or venerate." Interesting, that. I wasn't able to locate any dictionary definition for the man's last name, Watada, but I'm sure the locals could provide one.

Unbecoming. Feeling lazy today, I skip the trip to the OED and stick with the dictionary definition most readily available--one click away in Microsoft Word:

un·be·com·ing adj
1. unsuitable or unattractive on the wearer
2. not suitable, especially as not conforming with accepted attitudes or behavior

On occasion, I suppose, I could be said to engage in conduct "unbecoming of a professor"--both inside and outside the classroom: shit, at least I'm keeping my ass in my pants and haven't yet had the gall to hang my balls on the wall! ;-) These days--with the pathetic state of the teaching profession--I consider it an "honor" to engage in conduct "unbecoming of a teacher."

Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and a Gentlemen is defined by the U.S. Military Code of Conduct as "an offense subject to court martial defined in the punitive code of the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)," whereby "'gentleman' is understood to include commissioned officers, cadets, and midshipmen, of both sexes. A gentleman is understood to have a duty to avoid dishonest acts, displays of indecency, lawlessness, dealing unfairly, indecorum, injustice, or acts of cruelty."

Now, you'd think these standards would also apply to the Commander-in-Chief--and I wouldn't be the first to point this out. Bill Clinton faced impeachment for Conduct Unbecoming of a President for behavior that was really little more than conduct unbecoming of a husband--and heck, according to one source, 22 percent of married men have strayed at least once during their married lives, and a TIME-CNN poll indicated that 50 percent of Americans say President Clinton's adultery made his moral standard "about the same as the average married man."

Well, you sure can't walk with the holy if you're just a halfway decent man, now, can you?

Of course, I wouldn't be the first to point out the elephant in the room this week, either, as we witness the way Lt. Watada's name is dragged through the mud, accused by the Army of betraying his fellow soldiers--Army: War Objector Ditched His Soldiers.

Charged by the Army and the Press with "betraying trust": Army: Watada betrayed trust

In January last year, an able young lieutenant submitted a letter to his commanders with a startling declaration: He believed the war in Iraq was illegal and he would not serve there.

In meetings and counseling sessions, brigade commanders tried - and failed - to turn around the thinking of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. They argued that he should not make the emotional mistakes of youth and throw away his career.

The commanders never thought they had turned Watada away from his decision not to serve in Iraq. They did believe they had struck an agreement with Watada to keep his opposition to the war within the Army.

"In my eyes, I thought it was a mutual understanding between two officers that it not be made public," said Lt. Col. Bruce Antonia in testimony Tuesday during the court-martial trial of Watada. "I told him I was concerned. I did not want this to turn into a big media event."

It did. And Antonia said he felt betrayed by Watada's decision to announce his decision at a June news conference just weeks before the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was to leave for Iraq.

(Mutual understanding: Don't ask, don't tell?)

Charged by prosecutors with "disgracing the army":Objector disgraced Army, prosecutors say

An Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq because he considers the war illegal abandoned his soldiers and disgraced himself and the service, prosecutors said Tuesday at his court-martial.

That man, they say, is "unfit for command": Testimony paints Watada as Unfit for Command

two of Watada's former commanders testified during the second day of the court-martial that his decision not to deploy and to go public with his reasons was a betrayal of that oath and left him unfit to command troops ever again.

To its credit, the New York Times points out that

outside the base "A woman held a sign reading "Lying and Bullying = Conduct Unbecoming a President."

Indeed, that is the elephant in the room.

Now I ask you, is this now infamous "One Finger Victory Salute" conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman, or is it merely "unseemly" because it wasn't intended to be seen?

And how about this?

Unfit for command? Yathink?

Is it merely unseemly for a Vice President to tell a US Senator to "fuck himself", or does this not also fall under the category of conduct unbecoming of a gentleman?

Whose conduct was more unbecoming in this clip?

The man lying through his teeth or the gentleman (Dr. Ben Marble) telling him to go fuck himself?

And this? Is this a betrayal of trust?

Or just a "big media event"

And about those officers "disgracing" the army and betraying trust?

Here's a clip of Lt. Ehren Watada speaking at the Veterans for Peace 2006 National Convention August 12, 2006 in Seattle about refusing to serve in Iraq:

Now, here some of the other folks representing "us" in the uniform of the US Military:

Useemly? Because it was never meant to be seen? Or unbecoming? Under any circumstance?

You decide. The dictionaries just aren't doing it for me today.

Thank You Lt. Watada, for your Courage to Resist.