Yes, I will defend anyone who is sick and almost gave the ultimate sacrifice for what they love. You never kick a man when he is down.
Stevie Ray Vaughan died doing what he loved. So did John Lennon or Muddy Waters or any number of people. But they also didn't die by injecting themselves with an obscene amount of exogenous chemicals (naturally made by the body or not...there's an obvious reason the body makes and regulates them to a certain extent naturally) and so forth.
TP is rumored to be a partier, as well as having a huge amount of crap in himself daily prior to the kidney failure.
The point? You're defending someone that knew what he was doing to himself could...or would...get himself into trouble. Versus someone like the aforementioned that had no control over their death/situation that took them down.
We would respect him if he hadn't been such an ass. As I said in an earlier post, "you reap what you sow." Sure some dicks here reaped the the wrath of Prince when they would pipe off. But FAR MORE people were giving their opinion and TP would come off with his holier than thou attitude for no reason.