The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne doesn’t like the Iran open letter released by 47 Republican senators last week. And his column today makes clear that he really doesn’t like my support of that open letter.

Let me say at the outset: I like E.J. Dionne. He spoke to my class on political reporting from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism during a trip we took to Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1999. He likely doesn’t remember the visit, but I do. I’ve never forgotten the rule he said guided him in writing opinion pieces: Engage the strongest arguments on the opposing side of yours instead of mocking the dumb ones. It’s good advice and, with some exceptions, I have tried to follow it.