We used gestures and a whole slew of iPad-specific media queries and rendering logic on bostonglobe.com. While I agree that you can usually write a lot of common desktop/tablet code in a responsive design, adding tablet-specific (or iPad-specific) features in a responsive design is a big selling point to your typical executive-type.
(Dislaimer: I used to be an engineer at the Boston Globe)
(Dislaimer: I used to be an engineer at the Boston Globe)