Jumping in...

...just beKos.

The blogosphere is abuzz with a controversy over some intemperate remarks (later excised by the author) that Markos Zuniga made about the deaths of the American 'security contractors' in Faluja last week. I've seen the words, but Kos has deleted them and I don't see any particular purpose in replaying them here. Suffice to say that it was an emotional outburst whose tone reflected an off-hand response on a subject that deserved more consideration.

That said, when the first signs of controversy appeared (driven largely by right wing bloggers I have no desire whatsoever to point you toward), Kos deleted the offending comment (it was a response in the diary section of his blog, not a featured item on the main page) and threw up a response that was more explanation than apology, but at least drew some light out of the heat his words had generated.

Nonetheless, some of the Democratic candidates who had been advertising on the site felt enough of the heat to withdraw their ads, some of the more prominent liberal bloggers issued criticism of the comments and calls for apology and the official Kerry blog took down the link to DailyKos off of their blogroll.

Now, I've always had mixed emotions about Kos. As a blogger, I admire what he's accomplished in terms of building an audience and transforming it into a community. As a Democrat, I tip my cap to his demonstrated fundraising prowess on behalf of the Party and many individual candidates. On the other hand, as a Kerry supporter during the bloodiest days of the primary campaign, I've certainly felt the sting of Kos' sometimes brutally intemperate remarks in the past. That's one reason that, while I've linked to individual stories, both favorably and otherwise, I've never blogrolled him.

Well, I will now. Kos was wrong, and while I might appreciate a more forthright recognition of that in the form of a more sincere apology (his flip dismissal of some of his critics isn't any help at all, really), I've been more than a bit intemperate around here from time to time, as well, and fully expect to be in the future. It's the nature of the beast.

Mainly, though, I'm blogrolling Kos in reaction to the Kerry blog's decision to delete his link. They have their own reasons, and every right, to do so. Still, the decision smacks a bit of leaving a wounded comrade on the battlefield. The decision to unlink was made in the heat of the debate and in the face of the weekend. Hopefully tomorrow will bring time for a more reasoned evaluation of the situation, and a restoration of his link (if you think one link or another doesn't really matter, check out the Atrios' reaction to this online foodfight).

Bottom line - there's always been a sidebar link to the Kerry blog on Upper Left, and there always will be. But while there's never been one to DailyKos, there will be from now on. And if Kos someday deigns to link back, well, that'll be just fine, too.