Just to be clear, this is not a patent on a plain vanilla linked list. It's a patent on a linked list where each node in the list has 1 or more extra next pointers, to facilitate different orderings.

Now, if the US is serious about innovation and economic recovery, they will employ software patent evaluators who are actually aware of the state of the art in software engineering / computer science and who can judge the obviousness of an invention. Their failure to do so has resulted in a lot of extra friction that prevents economic growth. Every frivolous patent suit filed, every agreement to give in and pay up, is another bit of economic growth lost to friction.

Good luck with the recession.