Can google read CSS external style sheets? I know that google can detect font color on inline styles, but what about external style sheets? I am really tired of trying "white hat" tactics and getting nowhere when it comes to Google. The other two search engines are perfect and I am ranked good. Google is a big bitch that needs a huge slap in the ass.
I figure that it can probably read any file that is unprotected on your server. I think you just need to find the right keywords or give backlinks on the keywords you are already trying to go for. I do not know though, it could be a lot of different things.
I like your metaphor for Google. I too have had similar feelings towards it. SEO and Google can be a struggle, especially if you are trying to advance your keywords in a tight market. To answer your first question, Google will see your css.
I wouldn't suggest it but maybe external stylesheet with an entry in robots.txt not to spider it. Don'd do display:none; maybe blend it in with the background. I wouldn't make the text #ffffff if the bg is #ffffff googlebot may be able to see that but something close that the human eye cannot see the difference like #f1f1f1 or something. I don't see how googlebot could see that as bad. Again i'm not suggesting this
I beleive Google can read external style sheets although using your robots file to block it sounds possible. Also, Google is tough to get top rankings but white hat SEO is the way to. Give it time and you'll get the rankings.