I never liked Clarke primarily because he never did anything to deserve sitting at 5 and 6 in what was one of the most powerful teams in history where he never made runs unless the going was good (5 and 6 really being there to dig the top order out of trouble not to cash in on the top order dominance), I think the stat was that he only made centuries in scores of 500+ for his first 60 odd tests, and his position was not questioned when it should have been.
He was symbolic of Cricket Australia's self-fulfilling selection criteria which put the silver spoon in his mouth. I don't accept for a second that there is not 5 to 6 batsmen in every era who would have successful careers if given the opportunities Clarke was given and I am bitter for guys like Hodge that they did not get the opportunity.
On thing you can't argue with, though, is that he was ridiculously good from the moment he took the captaincy. I found it disgusting that there were already murmurs during the India tour last summer that he should stand aside for Smith and, ever more so, now that he has announced his retirement that people formerly or currently involved with CA have been willing to sink the boots into him. To me it exposes the "Baggy Green culture" for what it is, backstabbing, entitled, immature and, frankly, embarrassing.