"Sorry"

Props to Ed Whelan, whose conscience won out in the end. It's as classy an apology as the outing was classless. Publius has gracefully accepted. Karma is restored although Publius' anonymity is irrecoverable. Whelan, in Catholic mode, decribes his fault as a lack of charity. We are all guilty of this in the swift world of instant publishing. What matters is that we take responsibility for it, when more than just parliamentary fisticuffs. Of course, one does have to be amused by the fact that some on the far right didn't get the memo. Poor Jonah covered himself in goo when he could have waited a day and avoided any comment. But Powerline is pretty money:

Anonymity is the curse of the internet, and the principal reason for the dismally low level of discourse that generally prevails online. Which is why we have absolutely banned anonymous comments from our experimental comment system. In my opinion, the idea that a goofball like Blevins has some sort of "right" to smear Whelan anonymously, without taking responsibility for his assaults, is ridiculous. Be a man, for God's sake. Or, for that matter, a woman--you don't see Michelle Malkin, say, scurrying out from under a rock to issue anonymous attacks. If you can't muster the gumption to say who the hell you are and stand behind your words, my view is: get lost. You have nothing to contribute.

Lovely guys, those neocons.