Emperor's defense secretary says the emperor is a great leader??

At the Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter praised our troops.  But then added this:

Troops of such caliber demand great leaders, and there’s no doubt they have one in our commander in chief.

This is pure political brown-nosing--the kind of statement you hear from toadies in North Korea praising their Dear Leader.  Something you heard from lackeys of that other Hussein--Saddam. Because while Obama is certainly leading the transformation of the United States from freedom and free enterprise to socialism and government control of every aspect of life, there's no way he could possibly be considered a leader in a military sense.  Which is clearly the context of Carter's speech.

It's recorded that near the end of the Roman civilization, senators would give speeches heaping praise on monsters like the emperors Caligula and Nero.  And it doesn't surprise me a bit to hear one of your emperor's appointees singing his praises.

What would surprise me greatly is if Ashton Carter has any integrity or competence.  It's hard for me to imagine finding either of those qualities in such a shameless suck-up.