This just in: Running Scared ain’t.

We’ve been dropped by some blogs on their blogrolls because they got mad at what we wrote. In our case, we have a monster blogroll — which we use extensively for our posts and on the road. If we’re dropped, unless its an essential site, we simply follow suit. We then add a new link for that category on our blogroll.

There are many reasons why someone removes a link: because they don’t visit a site, they want to reduce their blogroll (TMV loves big ones that he can surf for hours, but he is warped, so he seldom removes links once they’re up).

But then there is the unfortunate ideological reason: someone doesn’t like a post, or doesn’t want that ideology link on their site, or feels someone isn’t pure enough (TMV was on a liberal talk show a while back where the host spent the whole segment suggesting no one could be a moderate and hinting that TMV must be a secret right-winger). Or, perhaps they feel having one’s eyes exposed to opposing ideas actually causes brain cancer.

In any event, the removal of a blog from a blogroll because someone disagrees with a writer or doesn’t wear the “correct” label can be disheartening — but it’s not deterring Running Scared which has had problems since Jazz Shaw changed his banner and upset some people. A small part of what he writes:

Recently this blog has been dropped from the blogrolls of several liberal blogs, some of which I considered truly progressive. This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise and was probably engineered on this end, if unintentionally. Some of you were even “nice” enough to send me detailed e-mails letting me know that we (or I should say, more correctly “I”) were no longer “acceptable” for your esteemed listings…

…I’m not a Republican anymore, but I’m not a Democrat either. I don’t accept the party line or the dogma of either “side” in this divided nation. I was a Republican in the Eisenhower mold for a quarter of a century. Expecting me to suddenly walk arm in arm down the aisle with either Howard Dean or Bill Frist would be too much to tolerate…

Read his WHOLE post and you’ll see why he did what he did…and what happened. Suffice to say, he is now filtered out by some because he is not declared as ideologically pure enough:

This has apparently caused some liberal bloggers to throw up their hands in disgust and write me off. So be it. …Link to this blog or do not link to it. That’s entirely up to you and your right to decide. But don’t expect me to follow anyone’s party line. I have my own ideas, and I’m not going to hold back on them or mask them just to get more hits or links from anyone. I’m a progressive and an independent – not a liberal or a conservative. (At least in terms of how they are defined today.)

READ IT ALL.

FOOTNOTE: We know some folks are into “blogwars” and attacking other people who write on other blogs (we’re not just talking about disagreeing on issues) but TMV is always puzzled about weblog writers inordinately preoccupied about whether OTHER weblog writers (on the right and left) are ideologically pure and into trying to defining them. You would think with the HUGE number of serious political, international and economic issues facing the United States, people would have enough issues to focus on.

If Glenn Reynolds, The Talking Dog, John Cole, Dean Esmay, David Adesnik, Citizen Smash, Donald Sensing, Ezra Klein disagree with TMV what is the big deal? So we disagree on issues.

But we don’t question whether they’re lying or have some secret agenda or are campaigning for another candidate. They read the same info we do and merely filter it through a different prism — which is their RIGHT — and they then put in the time and effort to offer it (for free) on the Internet — which is to their credit.

That’s why you’ll notice here that our blogroll is EXTENSIVE because we use it. And our cobloggers may have a different approach but we don’t do blogwars and only read blogs that deal in ideas — ideas that make us think…we link to them when we can because we believe oftentimes an interplay of clashing ideas can give you a better idea…or even make you (God forbid) change your idea.

And, no, neither Howard Dean nor Karl Rove is paying us to say that.

PS: To bloggers removed from blogrolls on the right and left because someone doesn’t feel you’re pure enough. There are LOTS of blogs. Lots of people with good ideas on the right, left and center worth reading and linking to and networking with. They’ll read you and link to you because of your ideas on a given post. Focus on them.

UPDATE: We clarified a bit more why we will drop a blog on our blogroll, due to a reader comment below.