Entertainer/activist David Arquette didn’t care how chilly Inauguration Day was. He’d packed his coonskin cap, after all.

While President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration seemed “more exciting” — “it was his first term and he was the first black president,” Arquette said — the Virginia native still found plenty to embrace this time.

“It was great that it fell on Martin Luther King Day and coincided with the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation,” he said. He was also exceptionally moved by 44’s call for equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation. Arquette’s older sibling, fellow performer Alexis (born Robert), underwent a sex change within the past decade.

“The fact that a man of faith said the gay line was really huge” Arquette said. “It is definitely something we are behind on and that we have to celebrate and embrace.”

Arquette was in town to lend his support to the Creative Coalition, a politically engaged arts advocacy group.

“In this time of major cuts, they should not cut the arts,” Arquette said, urging Congress to invest in programs that foster freedom of expression. “One thing we are winning around the world is the culture war,” he asserted.

Although he did his duty on the celebrity circuit, Arquette also mingled with us little people. He dined at the Peacock Cafe and partied with union signalmen. “I love the train system. It just feels so American to me,” he said.

His only gripe: D.C. needs to upgrade its gentlemen’s clubs. “D.C. has the worst strip clubs in the continental U.S.,” he said, singling out Camelot, Royal Palace and Archibald’s as sources of disappointment.

Arquette, who co-owns the Bootsy Bellows (his mom’s stage name during her burlesque days) nightclub in Los Angeles, urged the powers that be to drop bans on table and lap dances, arguing that happier clubgoers would undoubtedly spread the wealth. “What we need in these trying times is innovation,” he said of his unconventional stimulus plan.

The “Dancing With the Stars” alumnus even offered to throw his weight behind any next-gen strip joints. “If they change the laws, I’d consider becoming involved in it,” he proposed. “I’ll even do a dance or two.”