I agree with you that the vast majority of people fall in between those two ends of the spectrum. It seems to me that when you come up with a couple of paragraphs of bad things to say about someone, then conclude that this proves they cannot be heroes, that you are the one who is accepting the black-and-white worldview that each person is either heroic or not. As I said in my original post "Moral heroes are people who faced tough moral dilemmas and made inspiring choices, which become the basis of their legends. On many other occasions, however, they were just like any regular schmoe of their times, which makes them seem monstrous by modern standards. Sometimes the great moral leaders of the past did the right thing, sometimes they tried and failed, sometimes they didn’t even try. We need to remember them for their best moments and in spite of their worst moments."

Sometimes you seem to want to abolish the whole concept of hero. Other times you say we deserve better heroes than the ones we've got. If I were to accept your idea that heroes must be perfect, I would agree with you that we should reject the concept of hero as a chimerical fairy tale. No person has ever woken up every single morning and been heroic twenty four hours a day. But there are a few people who managed to be heroic for a couple of years or a couple of hours or even a couple of moments. Someone could instinctively jump in front of a train and rescue a child at great personal risk, then spend the rest of their life drinking and cheating on their spouse. That person was still a hero at that moment, and should be admired as such. When we are aware of and admire these brief flickers of heroism that occasionally bless people, we increase our chances of being heroic ourselves when the opportunity arises, and that makes the world a better place.

Never once in any of my posts have I said that there is something wrong with pointing out the moral wrongdoings of historical figures. What I have said is that the bad actions of a historical figure do not erase the heroic actions of that figure. You are creating a false dichotomy when you say we must be extremely critical of powerful people instead of heroicizing them. We can and should do both.