I cannot for the life of me figure out why Kos and Gilliard are upset here. Tim Kaine buys ads on Gilliard's website. Gilliard dresses Michael Steele up as a black-faced minstrel. Kaine's campaign pulls ads. Sounds about right to me. Kos and Gilliard are, at most times, hard-nosed, realistic guys. They know what the stakes are, they know how the smears work, and they know what the Republicans will do. Kos is worried about a "chilling effect," concerned bloggers will censor themselves for ad money. Well, yes, if you open yourself up to ads, you're going to have to be a bit careful when trotting around controversial topics. You can get around that by not accepting campaign ads, seeking out more aggressive advertisers, or letting folks pull ads when you want to paint people in blackface.
I think Gilliard went a bit too far -- but I don't advertise on his site, and really don't care what he does. I do, however, understand that advertising is a business, and were I an advertiser I would not have the same laissez-faire liberties. Part of the reason I get that is because Gilliard wrote it once, in a fusillade directed at those attacking the content of one of Kos's ads. It's really a very smart post (though I disagreed with him on that particular subject), so you should go and learn the lessons yourself, but here's a taste:
This is about survival. Making sure Kos is profitable is critical for the rest of us to succeed. I think if TBS wants to pay for liberal activism, even with a cheesy ad, let them. If you don't like the ad, tell them. But don't get into a debating circle when you think your issue is the only one, and when in reality it is not. This is not about the exploitation of women, but keeping the site running.
