Am I missing something here? Why so much hate on overdraft protection?
My credit union offers me to overdraft directly to my credit card without any penalty. I assume that’s different than overdraft protection?
Which is illegal (what they do is, not you) in many places, often covered under fraud.
I don’t think I’ve ever bounced a check but I had an overdraft recently. I write about 4 checks a year. I wrote my brother-in-law a check for $650 back in February and assumed that he cashed it within a week or so. My checking account is stable enough that I don’t balance it; I just rely on regular emails that notify me of my account transactions. Everything went fine until the end of March when I had just splurged on a decent motorcycle helmet, and my BIL decides to finally get around to cashing the check. Overdraft. 
Consider that if you do this just twice a week, you’re wasting $300 in fees every year.
If your savings can cover the overdrafts, why not just keep a bigger buffer in your checking account?
Correct. Credit unions don’t seem to make a fuss about it. Banks on the other hand will either not do it if you’re not enrolled (your check will bounce/card declined)…and I think will charge you. Or if you are enrolled, happily do the transfer and then charge you for having done it.
Mistakes happen, it happens to a lot of folks, that we misjudge the amount of money in our checking account. There is a big difference between someone who accidently “bounces” a few checks, for a relatively low amount, and who can transfer money into his/her checking account immediately vs. an individual who goes around writing “bad” checks on purpose for large purchases when he/she knows that there are no funds available.
Yes, I am well aware of that.