Dan,

Ahhh...no one is wrong, it's just a matter of differing opinions, and perspective.

You say Aikido fails and I say, no, the person does. I feel there where deshi of O'Sensei who had great skill, and your criticisms of Aikido don't apply. I say the skill sets are there, the principles are there, the internal power (to borrow a term you use) is there all with in Aikido.

And it isn't up to me to judge whether a Shihan (now or later in their lives) measures up to your criticism or not. It's not my thing to do that.

It is a matter of what we want and where we want to go, and who we want to follow, and who we want to follow us.