We've noted that Bank of America (BAC) CEO Ken Lewis isn't likely to enjoy a comforting swan song as he serves out his tenure. If anything, the critics are just getting warmed up. The latest comes from a New York Times columnist who compares Lewis to his boss, mentor and previous CEO, Hugh McColl.

"Unlike his legendary predecessor, however, he turned out not to be a born leader," the column notes. He goes on, "It's wrong to say he was incompetent; he really does understand, on an operational level, how to run a bank...But his sphere of competence never expanded beyond that original set of skills."

He was first and foremost an operations guy who knew how to merge banks. As for his CEO skills. The column invokes this classic from Warren Buffett: "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's swimming naked." Lewis is in for more of this kind of commentary. He should be hoping that the CEO search generates enough ink to drown it out.

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