Thursday, March 01, 2012
Andrew Breitbart has died
Damn.
With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart.We have lost a very creative voice, one of a recent crop of conservatives who took longstanding tactics of the left and used them for the right.Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles.
We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.
Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.
Andrew recently wrote a new conclusion to his book, Righteous Indignation:
I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and—famously—I enjoy making enemies. Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands—who knows?—of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night.Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us.
UPDATE: Left and right are already politicizing Andrew's death on Facebook and blogs, and I suspect he would have preferred it that way. There are those, even on the left, who appreciated him. Josh Marshall, among others, is generous in his obituary.
17 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Mar 01, 10:24:00 AM:
... did the video of Obama from his college days, mentioned at CPAC, surface yet?
By , at
Thu Mar 01, 11:39:00 AM:
That is the most depressing and dispiriting news I have heard in a long time. Andrew was a force of nature, and indispensable. RIP, and deepest condolences to his young family.
By 
Dawnfire82, at
Thu Mar 01, 11:51:00 AM:
Breitbart says he has presumably damning videos about Obama.
Days later, Breitbart suddenly drops dead outside his home from 'natural causes.'
At 43.
I'm a scornful critic of conspiracy theorists, but even I'm suspicious about this.
By darovas, at
Thu Mar 01, 12:17:00 PM:
This comment has been removed by the author.
By darovas, at
Thu Mar 01, 12:22:00 PM:
By Dawnfire82, at
Thu Mar 01, 12:52:00 PM:
'He said bad things about Ted Kennedy, ergo he deserved to die.'
You are a wretched, ghoulish human being.
Now, wish for my death and celebrate it when it comes, you piece of shit; I clearly deserve it.
By darovas, at
Thu Mar 01, 01:30:00 PM:
Danwfire82, as Clint Eastwood said in Unforgiven, "deserve's got nothing to do with it."
I find it ironic that the very same comments Breitbart applied to Kennedy could equally be well applied to Breitbart. Hence, "what goes around comes around."
You seem overwrought, perhaps by the magnitude of your loss. At any rate, I assure you I am not "celebrating" Breitbart's death; I find it tragic for his friends and family. And although you may find this a disappointment, I harbor no ill will toward you whatsoever. I wish you a long, happy, and productive life!
Truth be told, I did think that Breitbart was a gadfly and a "duplicitous bastard" (to use his own words). Perhaps he could be compared to Michael Moore, who has employed a similar style of "gotcha" journalism. Maybe this is what TH is getting at when he refers to Breitbart's use of the "longstanding tactics of the left". Although Moore is also highly tendentious and often outright dishonest, I think his oeuvre is more substantial than Breitbart's because Moore's focus is broader and on bigger issues, and he is more of a storyteller in that he highlights the plight of the less fortunate among us. Breitbart was more obsessed with destroying individuals and organizations, and while I generally agree with Brandeis that sunlight is the best disinfectant, Breitbart always came across to me as mean-spirited, and his dishonest editing jobs reinforced that impression.
For a good lesson on how to speak honestly about recently deceased villains, though, see here.
By Aegon01, at
Thu Mar 01, 01:31:00 PM:
Some of my friends on Facebook are taking the stance that since Breitbart was celebrating Teddy's death while the body was still warm, anyone who's a fan of Teddy gets to do the same thing with Andy. They argue that Andy was a wretched, ghoulish human being.
I'm trying to talk them out of this, since I don't wish anyone to die this young. My argument is "Are we going to be great human beings every time a jerk [aside: he WAS a dick. That's why we liked him.] dies and say 'You know, I think he died too old.'?"
By darovas, at
Thu Mar 01, 01:42:00 PM:
I found it interesting to peruse the TH archives from August 2009, right after Ted Kennedy died. Here are some selected comments from Dawnfire82:
"The more I find out about old Ted Kennedy, the happier I am that he died." (Fri Aug 28, 01:25:00 AM)
"I think I am now ready to condemn the whole package that was E. Kennedy. He was a shitbag." (ibid)
Here are some other comments from compassionate TH readers:
"I only regret that his physical suffering ended so soon. He richly deserved every last breath of it."
"No, I don't wish him "RIP" but a "RIH" adage. May Peace be the last thing that guy ever sees."
"'twere better had he not lived at all."
By pam, at
Thu Mar 01, 01:54:00 PM:
I was shocked when I read he died. I am with you, Aegon, as you probably know from my Facebook post upon hearing of Breitbart's death. I never agreed with him or his tactics (I am no fan of Moore's, too, for the record), but he was that gadfly and duplicitous bastard that he said he was and 43 is far too young.
Hitch was brill, wasn't he?
By , at
Thu Mar 01, 02:49:00 PM:
Breitbart will be missed. He was quite a character.
He was an especially effective critic of MSM.
Breitbart exposed the lies in several MSM stories. e.g that Tea Partiers used the N word and even spat on a Black Congressman. MSM reported this as true, and has never bothered to retract. This was a despicable slur on folks exercising fundamental political rights.
It’s a good rule not to speak ill of the dead. Breitbart may have been speaking ill of Teddy to counter the Camelot hagiography that surrounded Teddy’s funeral.
By MTF, at
Thu Mar 01, 02:57:00 PM:
What I most like about him was the endless struggle he waged against ignorants among Republicans, trying to get them to understand why we should take a big tent approach to our party. He was wonderful.
By , at
Fri Mar 02, 01:39:00 PM:
He is a Frederick Douglass, a Sojourner Truth, a Harriet Tubman! Indeed, a Martin Luther King! He couldn't make it to the mountaintop, or across the river Jordan like Moses, but maybe Rush can, leading an army of "sluts" with OKeefe bribing the way in! Oh Lawd, oh gnashing of teeth.
Meanwhile, back in the regular world...
By darovas, at
Fri Mar 02, 05:40:00 PM:
The RW lunatic fringe, which currently comprises about 50% of the Republican Party, is abuzz with speculation that Obama had Breitbart whacked. Breitbart himself is, understandably, unavailable to investigate, but there's always Donald Trump and of course Sheriff Joe.
By Gary Rosen, at
Sun Mar 04, 04:35:00 AM:
So chrissy has slithered back out from under its rock, ready to do battle with da Joooooos!
By darovas, at
Mon Mar 05, 01:36:00 PM:
Bush impersonator found dead at age 48. Maybe Bush had him whacked, eh?
By Gary Rosen, at
Tue Mar 06, 02:46:00 AM:
The obituary I saw showed a picture of Bridges with Bush, who had a sense of humor about himself notably lacking in the current POTUS. More likely he was done in by some lefty who took to heart the book (or was it a play?) suggesting Bush's assassination and made a mistake.
