> REST seems like an elephant in a room with some blind folks. Everybody who touches it thinks it's something different than the next guy, and they're all describing only one element of the thing.

I don't see it that way at all. Sure, there are minor quibbles about various approaches, but you can easily place everybody into one of two camps: the ones who don't know/care about REST's technical definition, and the ones that do. The two groups largely agree about what REST is amongst members of their own group, but disagree with the other group.