I think the argument for JavaScript is something along the lines of "It could have been much worse". Also, of the whole 'HTML5' stack, JavaScript, the language

I think the argument for JavaScript is something along the lines of "It could have been much worse". Also, of the whole 'HTML5' stack, JavaScript, the language, is probably one of the least bad parts. The DOM, SVG, all the XML and XML-like bits, the whole GUI paradigm (or lack of thereof) of web apps and so on are much worse.