A whole speech isn't necessary, 'k?
And I think your post sums up the point that I wanted to make next. Well, yes, Twilight Princess had it's bad points (easiness, the first ever Zelda game I found truly easy... even the Wind Waker was harder but occasionally for the wrong reasons, or the murky brown colours that are overly prevalent) BUT that isn't worth the virulent hate that it constantly recieves.
I think the fact that Twilight Princess is so similar to Ocarina of Time is a real big giveaway in the ongoing saga of Zelda. Twilight Princess had the potential to be so much but the fans wanted an Ocarina of Time 2 and that, well frankly, that cocked things up a little bit. There were moments in Twilight Princess that were sheer genius and Miyamoto, Aonuma et al really should have been braver and made the leap to making those moments the focus.
The Legend of Zelda series has the oppurtunity to be a very cinematic game. I'm not saying style over substance, I'm saying style and substance. The Mario games are all about the gameplay and the wacky yet wonderful moments that the gameplay therefore provides. But Zelda could and should have awesome storylines to go along with the gameplay. If that's not what Miyamoto wants then fine but I think Zelda has got to the stage that storyline can really be a commodity.
I know I've just said don't listen to the fans but bare with me a second. Note my aforementioned sheer genius moments in Twilight Princess coment. What are these moments? Well I think that they're the moments that combined story and the gameplay together. That bit where you're protecting the wagon with the Zora child across Hyrule was wonderful as it incorporated 4 (or was it 5?) interesting characters in one scene. Or what about that bit with Midna's Theme where you're rushing to save Midna in any way you can... that was a beautiful gameplay AND storyline moment.
These little moments give me hope for Zelda, and I think the overall problem storyline-wise is the overall picture. Sure the timeline is now disparaged beyond repair but each individual game ultimately disappoints... we were promised that Ganondorf was going to have a very cool storyline in Twilight Princess but he ended up just being a bigger tough guy than usual (a GOD in a Twilight Realm? Hmm...) Similarly, in Phantom Hourglass the bad dude at the end disappointed as well as the *yawn* twist... BUT that seen with Linebeck and the destroyed ghost ship... well, it gave me goosebumps.
I'll be returning with a better constructed post regarding where the Zelda series could go. But for now, what do you think?
You are right with how LOZ could be so much more then it is. Mabye we'll get it with the next one when it comes out in a few years.