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I understand that, in person, Lucian is a really nice guy - perhaps even a great guy - and to those who call him friend, he is a true friend indeed. However, he is quite the liberal and quite the rebel. He's springloaded in the "authority sucks" position. His classmates and fellow West Point graduates don't base their opinions of him on his time as a cadet 35 years ago (though he did enough then to earn a lot of dislike). For a while, he was a frequent poster on a private listserv email list and managed to earn the dislike of most West Point graduates who had the misfortune to read his screed.

I'd buy him dinner in a heartbeat, but take even his eyewitness accounts with a massive grain of salt. His viewpoint is skewed, which colors everything he says. He is doing his best to be honest, failing only because he doesn't realize his intense personal bias gets in the way.

Lucian is a man who loves the soldiers but has an automatic distrust of anyone above Captain unless they very evidently agree with his philosophy. I'm certain I'd like him if we ever met - but just as certain that I will always disagree with most of his opinions. But you know what they say about opinions . . . :-)