I wasn't really making the argument myself. I was just relating what the ST Chronology said. I don't think that anyone was exactly clamoring to see either of those guys again.
With Nimbus III a failure, the Enterprise on the fritz (including a portable log entry??? good thing the shuttles didn't break down either!), and Starfleet not being able to find any other ships with "experienced commanders" (wouldn't you just assign Kirk to one of those working ships?), I think Shatner's basically laying out that by 2287 everyone in the galaxy had become incompetent. And it all ends with people getting drunk AF, whether at Kirk's Ten Forward or camping at Yosemite. When in doubt, booze it up.
All this TFF talk makes me wanna watch TFF this weekend. It's honestly one of my most guiltiest of pleasures; I usually watch it at Christmas haha. And the portable log recorder not working properly is one of my favorite stupid gags of the film! It's as absurd as the Klingon dictionaries in TUC.