Never heard of an evil genius? I wouldn't really use genius here, but many people recognized Hitler as a brilliant leader, even more-so when he was alive, even though what he did was a terribly atrocious crime against humanity.

I've re-watched the scene several times, and I'm just not seeing what you're talking about.
A lot of people didn't believe the game was a death trap at first, but because Kirito admired Kayaba (ie. thought he made cool stuff and read up on everything he said), he knew it was the truth.

Kirito doesn't treat people like objects. He doesn't really know how to talk to people or get along, but he always cares about their well-being (providing teleport crystals, making sure they're out of danger, etc).

I find it interesting that most of the complaints with SAO are usually that Kirito is a Gary Sue who is so perfect he is unrealistic and can do no wrong, but some people in the anime see him as a psychopath.