Stapeling is still very much alive. The only problem is that any one group would have to agree to be stapled. Highly unlikely, yet as you falsely say, it is very much alive and still possible. Plus, who's to say an arbitrator will never decide on a staple job? That's right no one can say with any truth that it will never happen. Why this myth keeps getting passed around as the gospel is beyond me.
Ask Hewitt, he has all the answers for a friggin jackass and idiot who lead or mislead the YES voters to the mess we are in today.