No installers? No updated Apple Kb support docs?

Question

I own a fall 2011 Mac Mini with 10.7 preinstalled.
I started repairing 10.7.x days before the new 10.8 was released and found out I was pooched from further using my 8th month old purchase the day after it was released. Dont know why except for the fact I start looking online with my functional NON MAC machine and see the forums all saying Apple removed all the Lion/Mountain Lion installs? What??
Repairs included erasing/formatting the internal drive which has previously been cloned to external HD using CCC.  I had to use an external dockable HD that was running 10.6 to erase and then trust in the Lion Recovery/internet recovery steps since my clone wasnt working (non bootable ? icon on startup). My mistake was not checking the clone prior to any problems that might arise (did). Every time I bought new macs in the past my very first move was to clone the thing straight out of the box for unquestionable functionality; also had checked CCC website for any caveats before starting all of this so went in confident and unconcerned.
I always checkmark all the slower 'checksum, verify, compare' options I find on all procedures as I always want a make-it-exactly-the-same procedure. All bytes were the same amounts and no errors; no idea why its not bootable and the outdated 'bless the folder' technique of decades ago did not work on it.
Lion Recovery HD did not work after reformat, so tried to ReClone back from the external anyways and tried again a Recovery HD startup (nope).  Second mistake was trusting Apple KBs and Macworld et al; they all had multiple ways of reaquiring/installing Lion and none of them worked.
I had downloaded the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant and the RecoveryHD files from Apple sitting on the side ready and both dont work unless you have perfectly fine, functional 10.7 running (pointless, or I missed the point of what they are for).
I followed every support.kb file I could find for my OS. They are now invalid by the fact Apple removed crucial files from App store and did not provide a new alternate plan to paying customers who needed those troubleshooting tools for operating again. FYI, I have tried the 'option click' the Purchases tab from just before and just after Apple's release of Mountain Lion, and it shows me NO record of having Lion and no means of re-downloading it.
I suspect without those tools/flags/records in the App Store, the System Update servers or in whatever invisible partition server they have somewhere, the above-downloaded tools will not find internet-authorization from Apple and refuse to function?
Apple seems drugged into believing that "Internet is THE ONLY WAY", with no disks anymore; I consider this an idiotic approach given the grief its given me. Nothing  software-based/net-based was functioning except when I put old 10.6 in the docking bay, and now none of the techniques even from Apple work because Apple took the tools away. There appears to be no new, current KB files talking about alternatives so Apples non-verbal, non-subtle message is what: ***** to be me? Buy a new computer and/or new OS? Arent you lucky you had another old drive that had an old OS from a different time working on it?
No matter what this all might read as, I did follow every step in the exact order given by Apple, Macworld, CCC, etc., instructions I printed off the internet ... time and again I was blocked because of something Apple did that invalidated it all. So now what? I had gone back to running 10.6 from an old machine and got into liking it again but its not what came with the machine... yet apple seems to have given me no choice and much hassle in the meantime. I DO NOT want to buy Mountain Lion because Apple is forcing me to. There shouldnt be this kind of hassle or problem from them or their gear; it sure isnt as reliable as it was in the past!
Update: I gave up late one night, inadvertantly left the gear all running and eventually the Internet Recovery DID kick in and install an odd version of Lion (its feels different/wrong from the installed version some how). It was sitting there running the next day. Creepy; dont know how. But it doesnt feel like the same brand new 10.7 as I had out of the box, like somethings are missing but its been long enough I dont remember what.
I still want to have both an installed version of 10.7 on a brand new blank dockable HD, and have every one of the above Apple tools in place IN CASE this happens again but still nothing shows when I click the Purchased tab in the App Store with OPTION key held down, nor do the downloaded tools work. Did Apple just give up on me and my account or what now? Trust ONLY the Internet Recovery from now on?
Isnt there a way to take the now-working internal HD Lion OS and make a bootable external AND clone AND backup? It isnt working the way Apple says its supposed to and only Internet Recovery seems to have worked... or is this all because they took down the installers and for some reason blocked my App Store option-click?

Answer 1

I have the same problem, from multiple browsers, so it looks like 9.2.2 is no longer available.  You can try asking in the Mac OS 7/8/9 forum and see if anyone there has any further information:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/classic_mac_os
Regards.