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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

RIP Andrew Breitbart

Under normal circumstances there would be no way on earth I’d quote from or link to Big Government, but now isn’t a normal circumstance.  It appears Andrew Breitbart has passed away of natural causes.

http://bigjournalism.com/lsolo…

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 6:36 am Pacific Time

http://livewire.talkingpointsm…


The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office has confirmed conservative media icon Andrew Breitbart’s death to ABC News.

 


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 42 Comments

42 comments

  4. fogiv

    but being a gigantic asshole is usually bad for your health overall. I’d rather his ideology die, than him. May they be reunited in wingnut heaven soon.

    Sincere condolences to his family.

  6. Strummerson

    that this isn’t a divine message, a repudiation of his methods and positions?

    And I’m with janicket on this one.

  8. Shaun Appleby

    The public role he chose he’s just another piece on, or off, the board to me.  For the amount of disrepute he brought down on the conservatives I say it’s a wash.  I’m guessing there are plenty within his own political cohort happy to see the tail end of him, frankly.

  9. HappyinVT

    couple of comments but I find I cannot because I can’t make up my mind about this.

    The guy was who he was and managed to offend a great many people.  Do we forget that because he died suddenly at an early age?  Does he deserve some kind of consideration he wasn’t willing to grant others?

    Or do we take the high road so that we aren’t like him?

    I tend to come down with John because I think pissing on Breitbart says more about me than it does him but I’m not going to get all offended at those who don’t agree.

    I guess the biggest lesson here is that you are remembered in death for how you lived your life.  And I can feel sorry for his family while not feeling sorry for Breitbart’s passing.  In fact, once the initial surprise wore off, I find I really don’t care.  He wasn’t friend or family so …

    Can we talk about Joe Arpaio and his birther conspiracy now?

  10. Strummerson

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R…  

    He was a professional liar and slanderer.  Didn’t deserve to die young like this.  But his corrupt and dishonest voice will not be missed.  He did great damage to our public sphere.  He was a hatemonger.  And no amount of compassion for his grieving family will change that.

  11. Strummerson

    Billy Zoom of X posted an Andrew Breitbart R.I.P. thread.

    I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend Andrew Breitbart who died suddenly last night at age 43. He was a good friend and a huge X fan, and of course a great American.

    BZ

    I find this so upsetting.  I mean, it seems eminently possible to be a conservative without glorifying a lying dirtbag who lowered the standards of our public debate.  Most of the responses are condolences for a personal loss.  A few piped in to give their views on him but were perhaps justifiably shouted down for being inappropriate.  It IS a thread expressing personal loss after all.  But then there are these:

    I too was stunned at his early and sudden death. I truly enjoyed his sitting in for Dennis Miller and regular radio / tv talk show visits. But my favorite was when he beat Andrew Wiener to the podium at Wieners own resignation press conference. It’s hard to fault a guy with the balls to go after the people he regularly exposed.

    No.  Not hard at all.  His exposures were too often willfully trumped up demonizations.

    It’s not just Billy’s loss, It’s all our loss. Those who condemn him should explore his history. He was key to setting up the Huffington Post as a liberal and after seeing the liberal hanging of Clarence Thomas decided to tell the story of the left. RIP Mr. Breitbart. You left us too soon. I only wish I had known you on a personal basis. I feel your loss Billy.

    Somehow, I’m not feeling the loss.  He was poison to civil debate.

    Yes a real loss and likely not one that can be filled. He was just getting warmed up.

    Not sure what he would have done if he had warmed up anymore.  But I certainly feel spared.

    The conservative movement (and the truth) lost a warrior, the world lost a good man, and a family (he had a wife & 4 young children) lost a good father. Just terrible all around. It’s actually brings a little smile to my face to hear he was a big X fan. He just got even cooler in my book.

    If a movement benefits from a bald faced calumnist who undermined its credibility, and if the truth equals anything that tries to silence those with whom you disagree…with those qualifications, ok sure buddy.

    Anyway, just needed to respond to them and I take the point over there that a thread about the loss of a personal friend isn’t the place to debate the deceased.  But it’s sad how far we are from civil and substantive debate in this country.  It’s hard to have faith in the possibility of a productive dialectic when the other side seems uninterested in it and glorifies such destructive personalities.  Not exactly the conditions under which anyone can learn anything from discussing austerity vs. keynesian stimulus, civil rights, foreign policy, and health care etc.

  12. Strummerson

    Shirley Sherrod famously lost her job at the Department of Agriculture after Andrew Breitbart posted video of her that made it appear she had made racist remarks about white farmers. After the full video was released and her remarks appeared in context, Sherrod received apologies from the NAACP and President Obama, but the damage had been done. Sherrod, who filed an ongoing defamation suit against Breitbart, released a brief statement Thursday on Breitbart’s passing. “The news of Mr. Breitbart’s death came as a surprise to me when I was informed of it this morning,” Sherrod said. “My prayers go out to Mr. Breitbart’s family as they cope during this very difficult time. I do not intend to make any further comments.”

    I hope she wins the suit, covers her legal fees, and puts the rest of the damages in a trust for Breitbart’s children’s education.  Because I’m sure he was a big enough snob to want them to go to college.

  13. DeniseVelez

    when announced since I doubted I could say anything positive given his vile attacks on ACORN and others.

    I have now achieved sufficient distance to say something.  

    My religious belief system espouses something similar to the idea of reincarnation.  The Yoruba believe that we choose our destiny or “ori” before birth – so we even choose what family we are born to. In a few cases some unwise unborn’s grab too quickly and select what is dubbed a “buruku” ori.  Completely flawed.

    So I believe that Breitbart was one of those who chose unwisely, and was given the gift not to stay here too long trapped.

    My prayers are for his ori – that the next choice will help him find balance, and that he is reborn to a poor black family in Georgia.

  14. fogiv

    okay, who didn’t see this coming?

    I am not given to posting hyperbole, conspiracy theories and the like, but there are, at least in my opinion, more than a few reasons to look at the death of Andrew Breitbart with serious suspicion and I am NOT the only one to feel that way, and I have to wonder; was Andrew Breitbart murdered?

    [snip]

    I generally don’t use World Net Daily as a source but in the spirit of fair and balanced, there was this story a while back; Democrat: Obama’s grandma confirms Kenyan birth, and shortly thereafter there was this; Obama’s grandmother dies after battle with cancer.

    Now I am NOT saying that Obama had his grandmother killed for telling the truth about his birthplace, but … stranger things HAVE happened.

    People that are considered to be a threat to Obama come up missing, or dead, people that were considered a threat to the Clinton administration came up missing or dead … gotta be a coincidence, right?

    Let me make this very clear, I am NOT suicidal, if I turn up dead or missing after making this post, don’t buy the suicide excuse…

    http://texasfred.net/archives/…

  15. Strummerson

    Here’s Breitbart’s last piece.  It takes the media to task for failing to adequately publicize Obama’s participation on a leftist panel after a play about Alinsky and the people with whom he is associated (Studs Terkel!!!) through this panel and the listing of their names together on a poster.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G…

    Why is this being covered up?  Surely it would influence the vote.  Or it should.  Because organizing working people to exercise more power is clearly anti-democratic.

    What Americans are missing is that leftist thought of any sort is evil by definition.  And Obama is of the left.  Therefore he is evil and anti-American and hates freedom.

    When are we going to start to hit back?  We run away from the term “left” as if it places us in league with Pol Pot.  Can you imagine if every conservative was afraid of being associated with the “right” because it would trigger the specter of NAZIism?  If the latter doesn’t make sense ( and it doesn’t) why does the former?  Why can’t we see the left-right dialectic as proper to the operation of a democratic republic?  

    I want our ideas to win and our policies to succeed.  They want to annihilate anyone who isn’t on board with their “truth.”

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