> I've always found the Cosmic Distance Ladder as likely to be inaccurate due its assumption about the constant brightness of Standard Candle stars over their lifetime
Stars are just basic nuclear physics and gravity, that's why they're expected to be stable and predictable.
> Direct measurement of the CMB seems to be simpler with less chance of error.
Direct measurement of the CMB doesn't tell you anything on its own, you have to interpret the data in terms of a model. If you have a completely different model, say one without dark energy or without dark matter, CMB measurements would tell you something different than LCDM.
Stars are just basic nuclear physics and gravity, that's why they're expected to be stable and predictable.
> Direct measurement of the CMB seems to be simpler with less chance of error.
Direct measurement of the CMB doesn't tell you anything on its own, you have to interpret the data in terms of a model. If you have a completely different model, say one without dark energy or without dark matter, CMB measurements would tell you something different than LCDM.