Tell that to the Mujahideen, the Viet Cong, and the 2003- Iraqi Insurgency. You could make the case that in the latter two conflicts, the more mighty power was unwilling to commit total war [1], but I would like to believe that the US military would not commit total war against its own people. At some point there is nothing left to rule.
I have used GWT on two from scratch front ends within the last 8 months.
All of your points are true and well written, but at the end of the day, I don't want to write and maintain large apps in JavaScript (or really in any dynamically typed language for that matter). GWT is still the best way to avoid that.
I build solid wood furniture at Tech Shop SF occasionally. It can be tough in a shared space, and their wood shop is really lacking in some ways, but I think that it is worth it.
Check out thewoodwhisperer.com. This guy's videos are invaluable and great for beginners.
Also, don't buy cheap tools. Just about everyone has to learn this the hard way (myself included), but there is a reason this advice is parroted so often.
You can't exactly say "I don't want to apply the law in this particular case."