Undistinguished in college, business school and in the private sector, he spent nearly 30 years sitting in seminar rooms and corporate suites while experts and high achievers held forth.

Now it appears that he's having his revenge -- speaking loudly for a kind of anti-meritocracy: the idea that anyone, properly encouraged and supported, can do a thoroughly adequate job, even better than adequate, in almost any endeavor.

Personality is destiny.

What you do is not as important as whether you are deemed morally sound and trustworthy. In other words, a "good" man -- or woman -- beats a leading expert every time.