@Apocryphiliac: He wasn't and isn't just a dumbass. He's six or eight entire dumbasses. Back when he took over when I heard the first utterance of "...back to an ideological center" I knew he was going to drive the bus off the cliff. I've seen execs like him before, worked for a few of them. "Fair play" means letting yourself be overrun roughshod in an effort to receive goodwill. It means going into places you're not wanted (or worse) and getting beaten up for no return, just bloodied.