Electrical Short - What Just Happened?!

The only thing that would bring back the electrical was disconnecting the battery cables and reseating them. Every single time.

Using that as a clue, I inspected the cables more carefully. Both clamps were a little loose and had some play. I took them apart, sanded/brushed the wires, scraped away corrosion, and even sanded the ground to the engine block. I reassembled everything tightly, and it's started every single time since.

LOL, remember this question from post 7?

"You wouldn't happen to have those temporary terminals on the battery cables do ya?"

The problems you were describing were exactly what happens with a bad connection.