...thus can't bitcoin core or someone ...let emergent consensus work in their favor and then simply have enough clout to block a future 2mb hard fork anyway...
My thinking is that they will do just that; by slinging unfounded accusations and innuendo, they will find a way to make it appear as though the "bad guys" are the only ones that want 2MB blocks (much like the "bad guys" currently need to be stopped from using "covert asicboost" [despite no evidence ever being presented that "covert asicboost" is even a thing that has ever been done]).