It won't be enough to stave off a major recession.  It's already a major recession (worst since the Volcker Contraction), and it's going to get worse for a couple quarters.  As you know, Keynesianism is kind of like taking cold medicine.  (Not a great simile, but it's off the top of my head, so cut me some slack.)  The object isn't necessarily to cure you but rather keep you functional until cyclical recovery comes along.  In the meantime, you have the opportunity to look for a cure, which thankfully is a little easier in the current economic case than it is with the common cold.

In re: narrative stuff, a key problem I find with the NYT and, to a lesser extent in the liberal blogosphere, the WSJ -- the "Obama's Going to Destroy Social Security!" panic being, in all likelihood, a great example (insert my "We'll see" as always) -- is the way our medium can often inadvertently amplify the stupidity that comes out of the traditional press.

I think the gatekeeper problem is real, but not terribly significant in its impact on Average Joe.  And there's an element of "gatekeeper" to the Big Dawgs in the blogosphere.  If you're a news director wanting to know what folks on the blogs are talking about, you obviously aren't going to go sorting through Rude Pundit or Balloon Juice or any of the smaller ones.  You're going to hit Daily Kos, Red State, etc.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin