I think you make an interesting and very valid point that "Stallman and the FSF are basically the platinum standard by which all free software rhetoric is judge

I think you make an interesting and very valid point that "Stallman and the FSF are basically the platinum standard by which all free software rhetoric is judged". That said, it's unfortunate that the standard for free software rhetoric is shrill, conspiratorial, and purposefully marginal. Most successful organizations realize the value of aesthetics. There's a good reason that the World Wildlife Organization has a panda as its logo and not, lets say, a water buffalo.