Yes. I have read the book. Queeg was a jerk. But any hierarchy (specifically the military because of its nature) has jerks in it.
In the military, you don’t have the option of quitting and finding another job. So you have to work under that jerk. And the nature of the military mandates you do just that. It is a dicey matter to bring this to the attention of superior officers, who are generally reticent when it comes to relieving an officer of responsibility.
But that is how it is, as generations of military veterans can attest to, ranging from junior enlisted men to flag officers. If you work under a jerk, even one who might get people killed, has few escape routes.
In civilian world it is different. But there is a hierarchy in politics as well, though as we all know, each individual wants to get into office and partake of the hierarchy and its rules as little as they can. Most of them get in and stay in for the power and the perks.
But there is a hierarchy. If the hierarchy is composed of appointed and selected people it is expected you toe the line of who appointed you, provide your feedback, and if the leader of your hierarchy gives you instructions, you should either quit or salute and say “Yes sir.” and do what is asked.
You may feel differently about this, but that is how I feel an honorable person with principles should act. If you can’t do that, you should never accept the job.
And that is why this analogy is attractive to me.
I agree with all of this. The one exception is when you have a fiduciary responsibility (Such as an officer in the company, or a Cabinet secretary) and the order is illegal or causes a conflict. At that point you have to either resign or refuse to carry out the order.
The issue with Trump he was asking his staff to do stuff that was not legal or that required Congressional support. That’s what caused most of his “disloyalty” claims.
I am not debating whether he was right or wrong. I am suggesting when you look at the number of reliable people who are/were well respected when they joined the team; who all left before their term was up…that has got to be a big flashing red light.
In the end, when your two strongest allies are Rudy Gulliani and Mike Lindell…that is just sad.