The topline should really be the topline: Rest in peace, Dean Barnett. You died much, much too young.

What follows is cheap and self-indulgent. But earlier this year Dean went after a piece I wrote, and I thought he did so in an obnoxious manner — I was a "de facto Obama press agent," etc. — so I responded in kind. Par for the blogospheric course and so forth. But reading that post over now that Dean has passed away, I don’t know — it’s not as if he ever tried to say that suffering from a chronic illness prevented others from criticizing him, but, look, being human, I wish I hadn’t responded as aggressively as I did. It takes courage to live life on your own terms when you have cystic fibrosis, and that’s a courage I thankfully have never had to possess.

RIP Dean Barnett, and my condolences to his friends and family.