CSS zealots are a lot like TDD zealots. Both CSS and TDD have huge, huge benefits that you shouldn't write off before you actually take the time to learn them. The problem is the zealots talk about them as panaceas and ignore the fact that there is no one methodology that separates the pros from the amateurs. Instead they use their expertise in one tiny niche to prove to themselves how their work is so much better than the majority of similar work due to a few arbitrary criteria. Then they form small self-congratulatory communities to pat themselves on the back about how brilliant they are and how much everyone else could learn from them.
These are the people who you find trolling your blog. Usually they aren't even particular skilled at what they do, which is why they cling to dogma and feel the need to attack other people.
But let me be clear. I haven't layed out a website using tables since 2001 (and I used tables for 5 years before that), once you develop your mental model of CSS (and browser deficiencies) there are actually only a few edge cases where tables are easier. CSS can actually solve 90% of web design challenges more elegantly than tables. CSS makes it easier for designers to and developers to work together (I am both). There are many techniques which are only available in CSS. All future technical developments in web design will be in the realm of CSS.
So it really is worth the time to slug it out with CSS and figure out what's what. That said, web design coding (ie. HTML/CSS) is just one tiny piece of a huge potential set of web development skills. Why does google put CSS inline? Because their design considerations are driven by 100 things that are so far over CSS Zealots heads they can't even fathom it: scalability, latency, back-end HTML generation, js compiled from other languages, etc.