this discussion encapsulates everything I love about crypto

Yes, indeed fantastic discussion.

Honestly, I want them to now be forced to just make GNO the token to pay gas, or do they actually like to pay for txs in dollars?

This discussion is also a great example of how the medium shapes the message. It's hard to imagine having such a nuanced discussion on Twitter, but on a forum, it looks natural. Re: GNO, I think it'd be great for the token, don't know why they kept dollar fees. Maybe it's just for historical reasons, as they merged a few years ago with xDAI?