[tolmasky]

You have the answer in your own comment:

    For better or worse, the current system is largely based around mutually assured destruction.

That is what defensive patents are. Google is saying that they want patents so that no one will attack them (because then they'd sue back, hence bringing on said mutually assured destruction).

    It seems like what Gruber is actually saying is that the patents Google is violating are legitimate

Do you think Gruber has read these patents? Also, it doesn't even matter since they were NORTEL'S patents to begin with, so Apple was violating them too up until the point where they bought them. If these are really valid patents, why wasn't he complaining about poor Nortel's IP being infringed on by Apple when the iPhone came out?