One of the ways that Brian and I discuss this stuff is that I let Brian know when I think his language is unclear, and sometimes he clarifies. It was a question (note the question mark); I was asking if he meant "because of their actions and my own" and had just been using shorthand. If I've hurt his feelings by asking the question, I think he knows that I'm open to discussing it, and I think (though he can correct me if I'm wrong) that Brian understands that I am not slapping him down; we have a history of talking this stuff out calmly, but not sugar-coating anything.

(Brian, please do correct me if any of this is misstating things, in your view.)