Looking at this from a stolen valor POV;
Does this man wearing 4 stars even deserve to do so?
~W
Politics is the enemy of competence and integrity. Don’t know about stolen valor, but do believe that in the majority of cases the least qualified, most narcissistic, and least ethical people wind up in political positions of power. Scum floats.
It makes them look like banana republic dictators. All they need is a diagonal sash, and a lot of big medals to complete the picture.
I never gave it much thought, because these people (including some good ones) wear the uniforms with all the hardware, but it always looks to me a bit self-aggrandizing.
I just figured a lot of them didn’t design the uniform, but just took the example from the people who came before them.