Will suck if Avatar wins any major award, but money makes the world go around so, that's life.
I can almost agree with the argument against Best Picture, but what Cameron did is completely deserving of Best Director, IMO.
Hardly.
I think he deserves some sort of award, but his work is largely sub par when it comes to the final picture. Everything is average, drama is average, tension almost non existing, action is average, creation of momentum is average, etc.
He didn't show much skill as a director, as much as he did as a technical revolutionary. For example, The Matrix, at the time made under an average budget by Hollywood standards, managed to bring new kind of special effects, camera work, original and risky story by hollywood stories, with kung fu mixed into a cyber punk world, etc etc Yet nothing happened for the Wachowskis aside from the change to ruin it all with the sequels.
The BIG things that are Cameron's responsibility, are mostly behind the cameras.