Me either, man. I've been fighting a losing battle for years trying to point out that flawed and complicated is *good*, for all the characters. But mostly, I'm just pissing into the wind, so I watch the show and talk to my friends about it, and pretend that I don't see the rest of fandom eating itself. I think you're totally right; I think if push came to shove, Jonathan *would* kill Lionel. (I don't, however, think that he would be able to kill Lex . He's disliked him all along, but he's had those moments where he recognized that Lex was, well, not Lionel, like with the compass for the wedding present, etc., and I don't think he could go that far.)

I had a heads up with fandom though- when your show is about Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, you know that the factions are gonna be drawn, and early. *grin*