I am very sorry to see that Jon Swift -- whose real name was Al Weisel, and who described himself as "a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture" -- has died.

I can't help notice that his blogging seems to have stopped not long after the inauguration of Barack Obama. I don't know whether that was a coincidence in his case, but for me it was really, really difficult (and sometimes still is) to make the transition without succumbing to total burnout. (The rip-saw effect of Obamamania versus Obama Derangement Syndrome can lead to bigtime Obama Burnout Syndrome. And being sick of Obama is a hell of a way to start a blogger's day.)

Jon Swift is being remembered by a number of bloggers, including Ann Althouse. who liked him even though he enjoyed antagonizing her:

...He died after 2 aortic aneurysms, which happened as he was on his way to his father's funeral, according to a comment on his blog -- which hadn't been updated in about a year. The comment is (apparently) from his grieving mother.

Swift was a terrific writer. He liked to antagonize me, but that means nothing now, other than that I'm honored to have provided some raw material to a fine writer.

It's sad, and he'll be missed.