Re: [CSS2.1] col attributes: XHTML and CSS inconsistency?

Quoting "Tab Atkins Jr." <jackalmage@gmail.com>:

>> Boris Zbarsky wrote:
>>> Quoting Brad Kemper <brad.kemper@gmail.com>:
>>> But the whole range of styling possibilities would apply to td:nth- 
>>> col(), if I am following this correctly. Right? That's kind of the 
>>> whole idea?
>>
>> I'd think so, yes.
>
> If :nth-col can apply the full range of styling (not just the standard
> 4 attributes), then why can't we just move this functionality into
> <col>?

I guess you could similarly ask why the table-* display types exist at all,
right?

Because not everything on the web is HTML, and not everything that is a 
display
table is a semantic table.