Hey Justin - you've invoked the name of geocommons so <poof!>
Thanks for your feedback. It's always welcome.
Specific to the dataset you linked - it points to an HTTPS service that has an invalid security certificate. So in this case we should have shown you an message that said the dataset server is not working.
More generally, I'm particularly interested in that tantalizing list of questions and suggestions for improving ArcGIS Open Data (and all of ArcGIS). We deploy updates about every two weeks, and currently are doing a number of redesign & rebuild of functionality, so your input is extremely well timed.
Feel free to start a new thread, or ping me directly - andrew @ <you know who>.com
Andrew
CTO, Esri R&D DC, formerly of GeoIQ + GeoCommons