Here's a question then:
Mr Sweetman's job is to sell magazines, and nothing sells magazines and newspapers like a headline-grabbing story of bad news (regardless of the accuracy of the 'facts' quoted, and some of Mr Sweetman's 'facts' have been quite wrong in the very recent past, and his last article shows a beautiful economy with the truth when it suits him). The current fashion is for relatively un-informed journos and academics, bloggers etc (who postulate on defense matters while never having to actually consider putting their life at risk to test their theories) to bad mouth the F-35. It's the cool thing to do. Some of these journos & bloggers, who probably haven't ever picked up an MCDP, have decided that they should be more authoritative on USMC doctrine than professional warfighters who've studied and refined amphibious warfare for their entire careers.
Lockheed's job is to sell airplanes, so they've got a strong interest in avoiding the bad news and focusing on the good.
Military personnel and politicians responsible for making huge budgetary decisions have a strong interest in buying the best possible equipment to fulfill their perceived requirements, at the best possible price. The overwhelming majority of this group of people who have been briefed at the appropriate level are ardent supporters of the airplane.
So who would you listen to - the informed buyer who's done his research, the salesman, or the journo who's trying to sell his paper / blogger trying to sound as if he knows what he's talking about?
Regards,
Single Seat, Single Engine, The Only Way To Fly