For the most part I think this is a really good episode, though I agree it's a strange omission that Lore is not mentioned once, even tangentially, and instead is treated as though he doesn't exist.

However, the one thing that's always bugged me about this episode, even as a kid when I looked at this show through almost entirely uncritical eyes, is how absolutely contrived the circumstances are in order to force Riker to argue the other side.