Are opinions such as those in #17 representative of current safety attitudes; do they stem from training or social influence? An alternative is that as an open forum we have to entertain those who seek personal gain, spotters, gamers, spammers, etc; but in a professional forum the slightest ill-informed post might influence beliefs and understanding for the unwary, or perhaps any of us subconsciously.
In the absence of reported conditions flight operations depend on judgement; wind and heavy rain should indicate the need for additional caution.
Assumptions should not be the basis of any decision; assumption has value in self-assuming that your assessment, judgement, decision, could be flawed, thus some additional safety margin is required.
If you are unable to form a sufficiently accurate assessment of the runway state; ‘if you don’t know then don’t go’. (A sufficiently accurate assessment - before the event, is something which you can defend after the event.)
Using PIREPS is an assumption; that those people have a better understanding than you, but what is the basis of their judgement. Safety related decisions should not be delegated either by assumption or using reports of unknown quality without compelling evidence and consideration.
An objective of operating safely is to always have options; then using professional skills manage them. If you believe that you have no option, then you have overlooked something, think again and particularly consider the option that you should not to fly at all.