Andrew Olmsted, a prolific and thoughtful blogger, has released one last very compelling and heartfelt post - from beyond the grave. Would his words carry as much weight if he weren’t dead? Perhaps not. Nonetheless, it is fitting that he put perhaps more into this postmortem post than almost any other.

“Believe it or not, one of the things I will miss most is not being able to blog any longer. The ability to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper and put them where people can read and respond to them has been marvelous, even if most people who have read my writings haven’t agreed with them. If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them.”

There is always some tension between political phrasing and political reality. Some people suggest that “supporting the troops” means backing the war while other suggest it means bringing them home. In this case each person must decide for themselves: did Andrew die for a just cause, or was his life wasted on this foreign endeavor? For more information on Andrew, read this interview.