The little things that bother people. I don't get it.
I'm sorry, but anyone who disobeys orders, talks back to their superior officer, bad talks the captain in order to provoke him in front of the entire crew and
ASSAULTS two security officers forfeits everything in his position, first officer or not.
Kirk showed all the signs of being emotionally compromised for command and he didn't even get provoked into that situation.
Imagine a C student, frat boy type wielding the helm of power? That would never happen, right? Oh, it would happen--but people don't like it. That's been the problem with recent, smug Trek. It's portrayal of humanity was more alien and unreal than the putty-headed extraterrestrial lifeforms it had on screen.
I used to think everyone played by the rules, but as I get older I see life doesn't always play by the rules. Stranger things have happened. The military has a history of the leadership sometimes being the former cadets with the most demerits. Remember how Patton's career ended? And sometimes, leadership is made up of crooks and liars and phonies. I just watched "enemy within" last night where we meet Kirk's "evil side" and Spock surmised Kirk's evil side is part of what made the captain a strong leader. I read Abram's watched all the old episodes in prep for the movie--it showed. He might have exaggerated Kirk's badside---but a modern world can relate.