So I did give a lot more thought about this and considered the 3rd edition rules system and Pathfinder RPG. I went so far as to go back into my collection of titles pertaining to both games, and related d20 games besides. I had a look at supplements like Ghostwalk and Draconomicon. I considered Pathfinder itself, and its Golarion Campaign Setting. Looked at the modules. And the APs.
There's a lot of mechanical fudge in there, no doubt about it, and not all of it is to my liking, to be sure. But there are qualities to these games besides the precision of their rules, whether we are talking about the settings, the modules themselves, the characters and situations developed throughout the APs, and so on. Qualities which objectively speaking a great many fans do care about and play with and buy product for.
The bottom line is this: I was wrong. Jeff was right. It is a problem of people. Not a problem with the game itself. It might not mesh exactly with my needs or inclinations in some areas, but concentrating on these areas to declare that there is something fundamentally wrong with the system and those that like it was wrong.
So I apologize for debating this to the ground, when in truth I should have looked at stuff like Rappan Athuk and the Banewarrens and should have dismissed the charges out of hand.
So here you go. I was wrong. 3rd ed, Pathfinder can be great games. Just don't play with assholes, and don't be a dick. That's it, really.