Phil Ochs defended Bob Dylan when most of the other East Coast folkies were attacking him for having "betrayed" them by abandoning overt protest songs (while actually composing far more subtle but not so overt protest songs which protested just about EVERYTHING rather than protesting only the specific parochial concerns of the New Left).

Phil Ochs got what Bob was doing in songs like "It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", "Gates of Eden", and "Desolation Row". He praised Bob for doing it.

This showed great courage and honesty on Phil Ochs' part, because he was on the outs with Bob at the time, but was still defending him.

Yes, Bob was mean and spiteful to Phil Ochs on a couple of specific occasions, during a time when he got mean and spiteful with quite a number of people. Fine. He later seems to have regretted it.

He (Bob) still wrote the most powerful, revolutionary, and intelligent songs of that time. If you get it, you get it. If you don't, nothing anyone says will make a particle of difference.

Phil Ochs wrote one really brilliant song: "Changes"

He wrote some other not bad songs as well. He wrote a lot of songs which were strident, too literal for my taste, didn't age well, but I guess that's a matter of taste. If you like his stuff, great. I can take it or leave it. Be that as it may, I still appreciate his sincerity and his honesty.