I don't hate Lucas, I just think he's someone who needs strong and talented creative partners to collaborate with and bring the best out of himself and his ideas. That and the simple fact that everyone needs a reliable sounding board, and to be told "no, that's not good enough" or "that doesn't work" once in a while to stay sharp and keep creatively honest and self aware.
Whether done intentionally or not, when he started surrounding himself with yes men like Rick McCallum, people who simply reflected his greatness back at him without hesitation, praised everything he did or said or suggested, and told him what he wanted to hear, rather than what he needed to hear, that, to me, is when the wheels started to fall off. And that only magnified as Lucas took personal direct primary control over so many different aspects of production with the prequels.
To me the prequels still are what I've always found them to be, mediocre films with occasional flashes of greatness along the way, and the faint whiff of what might have been under steadier hands and wiser council. The original trilogy Special Editions, and the reception they received in many quarters, particularly amongst fans, should have been a wake up call to Lucas and company, a cause for reflection and re-assessment, and a push to cast a more critical eye over certain aspects of the prequel(s) and perhaps avoid making similar misjudgments. Instead he doubled down on some of the worst aspects of the SE's changes with the prequel trilogy, and we got what we got...
