In general, I agree with you entirely. Until being exposed to ADigitalMan's fanedits, I avoided the PT as much as possible. Too many cringe-inducing moments. But a good slapstick/juvenile humor/silliness-reducing edit of the PT can actually be quite enjoyable. Not on the same level as the OT, of course, but the prequels - for all their absurdity and cheesiness - definitely had their moments. I've always thoroughly enjoyed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. When I think about each prequel movie, I have to admit that the core stories GL came up with on which to base the movies are actually pretty good. The problems are in the details (too many "Star Wars babies" subplots, contraditions with the OT, etc.) and in the execution (fart & poo jokes, Jake Lloyd/Jar-Jar silliness, too much CGI, Hayden's woodenness, etc.).

All that to say that I don't think he's totally talentless; he'd probably do a great job as a conceptual consultant for a movie or series of movies. But as a filmmaker responsible for all the creative decisions including screenwriting, directing, and micromanaging every individual element? He's absolutely the wrong man for the job.

Seems to me that ESB and ROTJ were made to shine because of Kershner and Kasdan. With ANH, GL didn't have the wiggle room necessary to fill the film with silliness and immaturity, what with the well documented time and budget constraints he had to work with.

What seriously bugs me is the lack of respect he's repeatedly shown toward his original fanbase. "They're my movies; I can change 'em any way I want to" seems a pretty egotistical philosophy to me. One ought not to ostracize the fans that made one rich in the first place.