Batman is slipping..

I just don't get Bruce Wayne anymore. He's slipping. Previously, Batman has represented the best of the best. He's been hard on his generals and expected a lot from them. He was brutal on Tim and Jean-Paul Valley. He was down right nasty to Helena countless times. He's beaten up on her for being too "brutal", yet he's been as brutal on various occasions depending on the writer. He actually TOOK the mantle of Batgirl/Batwoman AWAY from Helena for really no reason and gave it to a complete unknown. Yes, Cass ended up amazing, but at the time it was a huge shock and it took a while for Helena to get over it. Even Babs, he was rather difficult with and this was during the happy-go-lucky Batman time. Now, however, Batman is letting just anybody in. Look at who Batman has recently put his stamp of approval on:

Damien Wayne - We're told that Damien was such an amazing fighter that at 10, he was the leader of the League of Assassins. Ok, sure, but then why can he not fight worth a crap when it really matters? I don't see him showing his great fighting talents and no one has ever mentioned it in the comics. He's clearly not disciplined as he constantly runs off and tries to do everything on his own, so.. how he is trained? I realize he's 10, but come on. He's suppose to be this prodigal genius, but we don't see it. We only see a whiney, annoying brat. The only reason he seems to have been picked to be Robin that ANYONE can mention is that he's Bruce's son. There is no sign of greatness in him. He's not very well trained, he's not very smart, he's not very strong, he's not a great detective, he's not a great fighter.. He doesn't even show the potential to be a great anything except a pain in the ass. Where is the Bruce Wayne that pushed Tim so hard? I don't see him anymore.

Stephanie Brown - another disaster waiting to happen. Yes, she's no longer Batgirl, thank GOD and she is now no longer the 2nd worst Robin to ever appear (Damien being the first), but he's still accepting her as Spoiler. This is the chick that's been around 20+ years and only managed to show SOME MINOR growth when she got her own title and that didn't even make sense since she took a huge leap in capabilities. Previous to being Batgirl or Robin, Stephanie was told by 3 separate people that the superhero life wasn't for her.. and one of those people? Batman.. Yeah you heard me.. Bruce Wayne as Batman told Stephanie Brown on at LEAST two occasions that she was going to get someone killed by being Spoiler. Her best friend, Cassandra Cain, confirmed that and Black Canary ALSO stated similar. Not to mention that Timothy Drake has now admitted he only kept her around as Spoiler because he enjoyed the make out sessions and didn't want to piss her off. So all this said, she's allowed to be Robin for some unknown reason that nobody can explain. As Robin, she screws up MAJORLY, gets herself killed literally (it was later revealed that she was faking it) and then when she comes back to life, she's literally handed the role of Batgirl with no training because supposedly Batman said it was her time? What? So if you just wait around long enough, you can get into the Bat-Family? Is that ALL it takes? Well, that's all been undone, but... Batman is relying on Stephanie Brown for a major plot line called Leviathan coming up. She'll be Spoiler again (or maybe she never stopped being Spoiler), but why? Why does Bruce need to rely on someone that he has consistently disapproved of? He hasn't suddenly started relying on Helena Bertinelli even though she's better trained, a better fighter, and OKed by Oracle/Barbara Gordon and Black Canary.

Kate Kane - A "highly" trained woman that has a confusing and complex origin and well.. we have no clue why she's so amazing. We're told she is and she seems to be able to handle her own, but that's supposedly because she was trained by Black Ops? Seriously? I don't know anyone in Black Ops IRL, but my understanding of military training for fighting is mostly with weapons and while they DO train in martial arts, it's more as a just in case situation, it's not so you can handle multiple armed opponents by yourself. She's not very smart, in fact she unabashedly let's her father, a military man himself, do all the thinking for her and basically pointing her at where he wants her to go. She's supposedly mad at him at the moment, but well.. without him she wouldn't be Batwoman. He got her her "training" (what little of it there must have been), her weapons, her armor, her well everything all through his military connections and his WIFE'S money (the same wife that Kate hates because she's the "evil step mommy"). Recently we've been told that Kate is SO GOOD that a woman that has been a hero almost 4-5X longer than Kate is nothing more than an incompetent boob compared to Kate. What? Bette Kane has been trained by Nightwing, she's worked with the Titans (I.E. she's used to fighting in a team setting), she's even faced off against Deathstroke in the past, but she's so incapable that Kate has to constantly save her and worry about her? REALLY? Kate who has been trained by??????? Ok.. And why does she get the right to wear the Bat? What has she done that shows her to be good enough? Listening to her father? I don't think so.

Batwing - Oh yeah, this guy is so highly trained.. he's.. not really anything. He's not that amazing. He's not that great of a fighter, he's not very smart.. in fact all he seems to be is Batman in an Iron Man-type suit. Bruce has set EVERYTHING up for him. He doesn't seem to be that special that he suddenly deserves Bruce's trust and part of the Batman's Inc, but sure.. In fact, most of the Batman Incers seem under-trained and un-vetted. They just seem to be chosen because.. someone said so.

I just don't get what Bruce is up to and I realize he's changed, but.. by watering him down so much an surrounding him with weaker, less capable generals.. what good does that do Batman? It hindered Dick and plagued his entire run as Batman, making him seem like a weaker, more ineffective Batman than he COULD have been. Now Bruce has finally chosen to man up and be Batman again... I just don't understand why he's putting up with such.. incompetence when he's punished and pushed those who have shown to be VERY competent.