Marking the halfway point.

Gil admits this week that "It’s true that this space is generally reserved for conservative perfidy." Well, duh.

And he admits that Knoll was "wrong" for showing up to a funeral of a slain marine and allegedly stated that "our government" opposes the war in Iraq.

But at this point, I honestly have to stand up for Catherine Baker Knoll, believe it or not. Well, up to the point where she allegedly said that thing about "our government".

True, what she supposedly did was tacky. Handing out your political business card at a funeral isn't the brightest idea. But Knoll claims that she was handing out her contact information should the family need any assistance.

Now that's not so bad.

Knoll stating her position on the war at the time; ...eh, not the best plan. That's where Knoll went wrong. (At least it was allegedly in a personal conversation and not at a podium.)

But at least she showed concern enough to be there and personally offer any help she could to someone grieving. As far as that goes, I respect that.

Since then, Knoll has offered up a letter of apology. You can view it here.

It's actually a decent apology. I've seen some bloggers say it was a "cop-out" apology that was "Durbin-style". I don't think it was. I think that Knoll realizes that she did something tacky and made a political mistake of sorts while attempting to do something decent; comfort and provide support to a grieving family member.