Jonathan_S wrote:pnakasone wrote:
I feel the hard part would be proving that Honor's slap alone caused his career and social damage. Some one like Houseman would have loads of enemies that where waiting for him to slip up and make a major fool of himself to destroy him. Also he would have bodies buried in his closet that he would not want dug up and brought out in the light of day of a trial.
Especially since, even without her slap, he was on record as advocating that Grayson dramatically cut defense spending and start trading with Masada (that would disproportionately help Masada) just before Masada launched an unprovoked attack and coupe attempt against Grayson, including abuse of POWs and attempts to perform Edict violating terror bombardments. And houseman got censured for ignoring the head of diplomatic mission's direct orders due to his own ill informed beliefs.
That might have been a positive in certain sectors - if he'd been right - but since he was immediately and graphically proved wrong he'd inflicted quite enough harm on his own reputation before he panicked and inspired Honor to smack him down (literally).
I see it all differently. First, I need to get my facts straight and haven't the time, at the mo, to suffer digital paper cuts. LOL
Houseman's goal was to convince the Graysons of the economic feasibility of joining Manticore. He was supposed to crunch the numbers and make the deal look enticing, a deal the Graysons couldn't refuse. In Houseman's mind, he was simply doing his job of
enlightening the Graysons as to how to ultimate spend their money, allocate their funds and steer their economy towards great gains and make the system filthy rich. Spending tons of cash and resources to fight their only neighbor when they should be trading with them was ludicrous to Houseman
and the bottom line was what he saw and was interested in. It was all related to why he was recruited and sent out there for.
Houseman wasn't a military strategist or a military man. He wasn't even a military economist. He was simply
an economist and he was attempting to do what an economist does. It was
only outside of his scope—
as deemed by the head of the diplomatic team , Courvoisier—to dabble in Grayson's military affairs. However, it was NOT outside of his scope to show them the comprehensively crunched numbers. In Houseman's head, I imagine that he felt Courvoisier was ignorantly hampering his ability to adequately complete his task because the admiral could hardly understand the intricacies of the mind of an economist and his most probably complicated economic assessments
or the objectives Houseman was attempting to lay out. (And I need to reread to see who was actually responsible in choosing Houseman. Who Houseman may have felt he ultimately worked for. Was it The Queen?)
Houseman was not in the habit of half ass doing his job which included a comprehensive economic plan for Grayson. And
if the diplomatic team is successful in drawing Grayson in, then Grayson would suddenly find themselves in an entirely new and quite profitable economic reality. But the windfall was to be all encompassing and big enough that it could have easily supported both planets of Grayson and Masada. As a matter of fact, entering into a mutually beneficial trade agreement with each other, would have multiplied the windfall immeasurably. So, on an economic note, what Houseman was putting down was sensible -- less the realities of any military considerations. But. His lapse thereof may have been the fault of his employees and not his own. I got the impression that Houseman was NOT adequately primed, prepared and informed for the task. His objectives should have been made clear on planet before setting sail. I got the impression that it was attempted en route. Which could be construed as both a tactical error of naive misjudgment by the delegation and disrespectful to Houseman and his profession. Iinm, the delegation never wanted Houseman along and that in itself was part of the problem. Houseman's objectives, therefore Houseman, were never taken seriously. An error on the part of the team and conflict of interest waiting to happen. Which did. I'm not saying that Houseman was correct in what he did. Of course he wasn't. But his goals and objectives should have been dealt with before leaving the face of the planet. It should have been a certainty that Houseman was suitable for the job. That may not have been Houseman's mistake.
Also, Houseman was frightened for his life. He was not a military man. He should not have been faulted for being frightened of having a ship blown out from around him. He should NOT have been slapped for being a frightened
civilian. Remove him from the equation, yes. Assault him? No.
IMHO, Houseman surely had a case against Honor. That much is obvious. Grayson's legal team and financial backing couldn't have stayed that off. Nor could Honor's bank account have done anything to stave it off except to draw the entire case out. She could have simply prolonged the inevitable, in which point Houseman's losses would have added up to much more -- compounded themselves significantly. Honor might would have been instructed to settle.
Duckk's line of thought is interesting and I think bangs the nail on its head. It could have been that in exchange for dropping the matter the RMN and the the Crown would seal what happened up and make it classified, saving Houseman from embarrassment and possible career damage. Though I can't see Houseman going for it, because he might also have had a case against the RMN and the Crown.
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