Breitbart’s Passing
March 1st, 2012Internet Milestone
I just looked at The Drudge Report and learned that Andrew Breitbart has died. It’s a big shock.
I was never a fan of his, and he didn’t like me at all. He even referred to me as “evil” in a private conversation. In spite of that, or really, because of that, I am taking a minute to say that I am sorry to hear the bad news, and that I will pray for his wife and kids. This has to be a terrible blow for them.
I assume the usual graceless career trolls will be out in force today, trumpeting his demise as a victory for their side. Usually, people on the right behave better than those on the left, but I do remember the vile things some conservatives said when Ted Kennedy died, so I hope people will take the gloating in stride and not let it affect their own behavior or attitudes.
March 1st, 2012 at 12:11 PM
Like him or not, Breitbart showed our side what taking the fight to the other side looked like. Timid RINOS needed, and still need, prodding from such as Breitbart, who don’t shrink from the fight.
He was in the arena. He fought. Most others don’t, or just won’t. Because he did, however imperfectly, he has my everlasting respect, appreciation, and gratitude.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
March 4th, 2012 at 11:46 PM
He complimented our work on HuffTo in the NRO piece by Seipp. I recall a half hour conversation about search optimization with him at a 2006 Leno post-taping party featuring Ann Coulter. He remained amused at how we were anticipating HuffPo both technically (go Kumar!) and in content during our 100 days of brief payless humor glory before we flamed out.
Wasn’t aware of his calling you “evil” but would like to understand the context better. My suspicion is that if he recalled the “evil” epithet, he’d probably have retracted it as hyperbolic and not suggesting anything morally evil that a Bible believer would object to. Having known you for 30 years and having observed Breitbart for 6, I would have liked to be a fly on the wall in a conversation between you on what conservative strategy and tactics should be.
My observation is that it seemed he never slept because he feared missing a news item and sometimes judgement was affected. He was imperfect but 8 or 9 steps out of 10 were progress and a net plus for a conservative cause that had few energetic proponents.
He put the left on the defensive and with pure courage he went at it face to face with their trucked-in protesters-for-hire and their most popular spokesmen like Maher. AB’s a big loss. A huge loss. Losing George Will or nearly any other famous conservative pundit will not be such a gut-punch to our trying to keep the country from slouching into European insignificance. I think the loss of only a Hannity or Limbaugh could eclipse AB. And Breitbart was just beginning to hit his stride.
He had just been slated to speak this coming June at the anniversary event commemorating the untimely death of screenwriter Robert Avrech at a local Orthodox shul here in LA. Breitbart waived his usual fee and said to donate it to charity. He was famously generous. Another friend of mine was to meet Breitbart in two weeks along with another well-known conservative pundit. Breitbart had been planning a “Big Jerusalem” to join his “Big” umbrella with the aim of countering the mainstream media’s bias against Israel.
March 4th, 2012 at 11:52 PM
Breitbart, unlike Teddy, never had a Chappaquiddick moment nor could be held responsible for policies resulting in tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands) of abortions.
I don’t see them both deserving similar post-mortem respect.
March 5th, 2012 at 12:23 AM
Why on earth would Breitbart say you were ‘evil’?? A strong word. And apart from that, why did you not like him? This is a little unexpected.
March 5th, 2012 at 12:03 PM
In the spirit of the moment, I choose not to get into a discussion of my interactions with Breitbart. I thought it made sense to describe things as they were, in the interest of honesty, but that’s as far as I plan to go.