It's interesting to hear your take on Years of Refusal; I too cannot listen to the album all the way through, aside from the first few times I heard it. However, I think "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore" is possibly one of Morrissey's worst songs. I can only listen to the first 8 tracks on YOR. However, I also think that "When Last I spoke to Carol" is one of the best songs Morrissey has ever recorded. I also thought that the cover of the album was fantastic; better than the endless (albeit attractive) pictures of Morrissey looking wistful in various poses that adorn the covers of his other solo albums.
My opinion on Morrissey banning David T from his gigs is simply that I do not think an artist should ban anyone, unless they have threatened a member of the band or crew. Neverthless, as you said, it's Morrissey's show, he makes the decisions and if he wants to ban someone, he can.
Has he lost it? In the eyes of people who have never liked him, he never had it. And in the eyes of the devoted, he'll never lose it. Therefore I fail to see the point of articles like this one in the Guardian. Music is a very subjective thing; for instance, as much as I love Morrissey, I've never been interested in the music he likes and when he published a list of his favourite albums, I only agreed with Jeff Buckley's Grace.
Anyway, the point is that, to many fans Morrissey hasn't lost it, because he hasn't changed. He still writes interesting lyrics (even though they are often lost under the average music) and he sticks stubbonly to his band because he likes them as people and not necessarily the music they play. Thus, even though the songs sound very samey musically, Morrissey is still happy, because they have been recorded with the purity of his vision. In this repect he is almost autistic in his stubborness to listen to anyone else's opinion. He also hasn't changed as regards his public actions and pronouncements. The only reason they offend many fans nowadays is that the fans grew up, but Morrissey refused to compromise his adolescent self. For that I greatly admire the man, even though I find I don't agree with him as much as I used to.
When he obtains a record deal, or finds another way to release his material, he will still have fans who like the songs, he will still sell the record and he will still gather column inches and interest on the strength of his opinionated and eloquent prose. Nevertheless, I think these little acts of petulance on Morrissey's part (although entirely fitting with his character) do indicate a man bored with the sychophancy, the hatred and the bickering of fans on websites such as this and often at his gigs. I sometimes think that he's into self sabotage, in order to alienate himself further from these types of fans and that he swings between wishing for mainstream popularity, to carving such an odd niche he will end up playing to an audience of about 10 people. Both these scenarios will allow him to feel aggrieved and I think he cannot enjoy life, or be creative unless he feels that fire of resentment.
All I know is that as long as Morrissey is around I will remain a fan; I'm not as slavishly devoted as I once was, but he's unique in his field and I still find him a very interesting artist, mainly for the persona he has cultivated. And it is a persona, even as he insists that the "Morrissey" the fans see is his true self, I have heard several stories to the contrary. But still, I think many former fans do the man a disservice in their objection to him. He is not as rich, as strange, nor as thoughtless as many like to believe.