Back to the OP: Just a wee thought to add to all this really, but I suppose a more prosaic reason Johnny has a shitty attitude during "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution" might be because he simply thinks liberating Clouds is a distraction when they should be focussing on Mikoshi/Arasaka/Saving V.
This is definitely a big part of it too. Johnny has a very one-track mind sometimes, everything is a distraction, unless it's something he wants. He is hyper focused on Mikoshi, until "Sinner-man", and then he's really excited to see where this crazy story goes. It's almost like he's a dog with a bone, it's hard to get him to focus on something else, and when he does, he's fully into that, until he goes right back to his bone.
Sometimes if he thinks it's worthy, he's about helping people, unless he thinks they don't deserve it, which he is very vocal about. It's like he's at war with himself at times. He'll get angry with V for not helping in some situations but then he'll be annoyed that V is wasting time on something in other situations. Which I think is another example of the Rebel he thinks he is, and the "Better Person" or "Friend" he wants to become? Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. But at times it just seems like all he wants to do is burn Mikoshi and can't wait to get there and then all of a sudden, he's like "we need to do this it's the right thing" but then will also criticize V for not killing in a mission. So, his morality is a little all over the place, but I think that's to show some sort of growth as things progress.
