But is his room clean?

A reader writes:

20 years ago, when faced with adversity or challenge, I may have given up. I did many times. Raised by a gamma and public school, I was taught too much backward bullshit.

Then I started reading Vox Popoli.

This week I had a serious medical situation. The thought to feel sorry for myself never crossed my mind. Business, family, friends, projects. I was seriously still trying to get out of bed to take on the world. I kept asking myself: okay, how will I work around this? What can I accomplish?

Between eviscerating his enemies and leaving their charred bones on the battlefield, the Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Evil occasionally makes time to inspire people too. The horror!

I have always felt that we Dark Lords are woefully underestimated. I mean, consider Sauron, for example. Has anyone ever given any thought to how charismatic he must have been, how inspiring, to not only convince whole kingdoms, whole races, to support his vision for Middle Earth, but even convince some of his most avowed enemies to abandon their fellows and throw in with him?