The single fault in the AMA's decision to 'embrace drone$' (OK, besides the $) is simple.
Multirotors/drones/tri/quad/hex/octocopters/etc all have one thing in common which allows anyone to immediately do something incredibly stupid with a high degree of confidence and success.
They simply do not require any instruction or skill to 'fly'. Period. None, nada, zero.
Sorry to all the MR "pilots" but it's an unavoidable fact.
Look at traditional RC planes and helicopters (and if you want to include the other AMA classes covered by the FAI)
The path to being able to successfully 'take off and land' was traditionally fairly long (weeks/months/a season or two). It has been this way for decades, long before I started flying in the 70's
You buy your plane at a local hobby shop, show up at a field recommended by the hobby shop or AMA website, and ask to be trained by an instructor.
You inevitably crash since YOU are responsible for controlling the plane/heli in all axes and orientations. That's OK, it's all part of the learning process.
You hardly ever see someone show up with a Kadet/Falcon/etc training and single handedly learn to fly by themselves. It just doesn't work.
Contrast this with Multirotors/drones/tri/quad/hex/octocopters/etc Complete opposite.
Self stabilizing, panic recovery modes, headless operation, fully autonomous operation, return to home.
In essence near zero skill required.
This lower 'barrier to entry' allows for completely untrained, uninformed "pilots" (and i use the term loosely) to fly anywhere, as high as they like from basically the first couple of times out.
If they were to crash a few dozen times before ever getting to altitude (way below 400'), the problem would self correct.
This is the fundamental difference between a "drone" and a "traditional AMA aircraft"....again, a loose definition of a traditional AMA aircraft would be one covered under the FAI regulations. They simply do NOT belong in the same organization, operating under the same set of rules/guidelines/regulations. They would be far better served (as would traditional AMA members) if the MR crowd formed their own CBO
Again, this is never going to happen, since no matter what the AMA states publicly to its members, since it is entirely about $.
From this point forward, it's all damage control. If the entire AMA organization resigned tomorrow and new individuals were to take charge, it would make little to no difference.
This may be true for the more expensive units that simply fly from waypoint to waypoint, but skill is needed to fly a simple MR craft.