I'm not being dogmatic one way or the other, but I find it interesting that the real support for aggressive cleaning of a .22LR barrel seems to always come from the benchresters.
I'm certainly not saying that they're wrong, but having had a bit of contact with the centerfire benchrest crowd, I find that what they consider reasonable, what they consider to be a huge benefit, and what they consider critical are all very different from the considerations of the average shooter (or even the average competitive shooter who's not a benchrester).
Since you provided a summation, I'll do likewise.
1. Most, if not all rimfire barrels need to be cleaned aggressively to maintain the absolute best accuracy possible, but the accuracy improvement between normal treatment (infrequent cleaning and not using a brush) and this type of treatment is not likely to be noticed by the vast majority of shooters. This type of treatment if applied properly (bore guide, good rod, etc.) will probably not harm a high quality barrel but will almost certainly introduce additional wear to most barrels.
2. Some rimfire barrels lead enough that they need to be cleaned fairly frequently to maintain reasonable accuracy. Some apparently don't lead at all and will maintain excellent accuracy (sub MOA) with no bore cleaning at all**.
**I happen to have a rifle like that.
I may put a rod through it one day, but I'm in no hurry as long as it's shooting that well.