I only brought him up because you did specifically name Lionel as one of the people who you think Dark Thursday should be blamed for because they didn't tell Lex the truth. I don't really blame Lex for not listening either, but he did try to warn him. Not to mention I think Lionel was still under Jor-El's influence at that point, which was pretty clearly shown to be affecting his behaviour in regards to anything Clark related. I think there's some question there as to whether revealing everything was even in Lionel's power.

Also, I dunno, maybe it's just me but I don't really equate torture and kidnapping and possible murder with a small fire in dry grass. *shrug* And I'd really argue that no one sees the danger Lex does. Clark is better informed about dangerous aliens running around than Lex is, and it's not stated clearly but it's possible that Oliver/the League are now being brought in on it too as it was Ollie that got Clark the heads up on Zoner activity in Combat.

Anyway, as I said, I can see where you're coming from but I have to disagree with your interpretation of Lex's motives. And I think categorising Lex as evil is risky business, because evil is a much disputed term. I go more for defined terms. I think he's dangerous, misguided, self-righteous, and with the potential for even greater harm, as is pretty clearly depicted in pre-Smallville canon anyway. But I think we're going to have to agree to disagree there.