The Government of Japan had surrendered, true. But the armed forces still their arms and were still under the command of officers that would rather die then suffer defeat. It really was a brave move, and helped the General to earned the respect of the Japanesse.
Seems to me, your entire argument is based on his leaving Bataan. Do you know how he left Bataan? Do you know why he left Bataan. Do you know that his campaigns in WW 2 all aimed at returning to his command in Bataan.
Do you know that the navy plan was concerning the Philippines. I'll tell you, it was to fire up the boilers and steam to Perl Harbors at full speed. It is amazing that MacAuthors forces held up the Japanese for as long as they did. His tactics in defense were brilliant. All the other commands in the far east were over run in a matter of weeks except Mac Authors.
As for Ike, do you know that Ike was for many years, Mac Authors second in the Philippines? One could argue that Ike learned quire a bit (besides acting) serving with Mac Author. So even Ike, had a very Strong connection to MacAuthor. Patton gave his superiors (Ike) a hard time too, is Patton also a bum?
Ok, back to Truman, did you know that Truman ordered the seventh fleet to guard the chicom flank during the Korean war. GUARD THE ENEMY FLANK FOR GOD's SAKE! Truman was a fool and MacAuthor knew it. Never before in the history of warfare has a general had his own damn forces ordered to guard the enemies flank! And guess what with their flank secure the Chicom were able to move into Korea the forces that attacked and overran the American under MacAuthor. Now you tell me how you would react to such stupidity.
This is one of the best services FR provides: it encourages understanding, mutual respect, and support between civilian Americans and our military personnel -- citizen soldiers every one.
Which brings to mind the banishment of ROTC off of the college campuses in the 1960s and 1970s. I can think of a very small number of anti-American academic policies that could have been worse.