Meh. I hate piling on, but you've hit on a particular performance by a particular actor that I really respect and admire. Mary McDonnell is a truly gifted actor, BSG was lucky to have her. The nuances that she captured in being PRECISELY what you railed against - an unprepared, unqualified individual thrust into a power position at precisely the time she is facing a grave illness - were brilliant. I'm sorry that her character and her performance weren't simpleminded and black-and-white, as you so clearly prefer; as someone else pointed out, that BSG avoided that SF stereotype and went for "the grey" is the reason why many of its fans loved it so much...