"Keith hates Goldin with a passion, and treats him with the most contempt he can muster... "
I think it's mutual.

"Every CEO in the industry and most of the senior military know that given the incredible challenges and restraints he faced, Goldin did a remarkable job..."
Hmm, I don't know about that, but I would say he did a pretty good job-
he actually got ISS in orbit [the merits and "details" of ISS is another matter].

"They also know that the next NASA Adminisrator will be as unable to move forward on a manned Mars mission any more than Goldin could... and they know that that is going to make them the target of Tumlinson et al... for any program, when a fair part of your supporters hold unrealistic expectations, it makes it difficult to build a consensus, and thus you can't move the process along - "

I don't think anyone can blame Goldin for being unwillingly to send crew to Mars- Goldin's heart was in it. That was never the problem.
-gb