You post would be convincing......except that you blew it when you started talking about "lifters".
The fuel does not TOUCH the lifters.
So that little mistake puts your whole post in question.
Yes, fuel deteriorates in storage. E10 just goes bad a little differently and slightly quicker but is that because of the ethanol itself or because the gas it is blended with has a slightly different forumula ??
It is highly likely that those vehicles you talk about that gummed up while not in use would have done that with pure gas too. The result might have been slightly different.......but not much.