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In Memoriam
We’ve Lost Andrew Breitbart
He understood as few others have how absurd the Liberals are.
Andrew Breitbart is dead, at 43. He died while walking the streets of Brentwood near his home in Los Angeles late last night. He had just had a bright idea about how to spook the Liberals or he was about to get a bright idea about how to spook the Liberals. Of that you can be sure. He was in constant motion seven days a week advancing conservatism and tripping up pompous Liberals. As we solemnize his life we condole his family, a pretty wife, four lovely children. Their loss is incalculable.
Less so is the loss to conservatism. Yet it remains enormous. From the days he worked with the estimable Matt Drudge, to the days when he exposed — if that is the right word — Anthony Weiner, on the internet he was always devoted to the cause of conservatism and to hurting — really hurting — the Liberals. He understood as few others have how absurd they are. How much damage they have caused America. How self-centered their movement has become. He was uniquely aware of how the Internet and social media could be harnessed to do the Liberals in. Moreover, he was one of the rare conservatives who understood that the battle had to be taken to the culture, to the Kultursmog, as we call it here at AmSpec. He understood the politicization of the culture, and he was out to conservatize it.
I kept in touch with him irregularly, calling him when he worked with James O’Keefe, the phony pimp, calling again as ACORN’s position weakened, checking in when he had his delightful press conference about Weiner. He was always helpful and fearless. He had attracted the hate of his enemies, and, boy, are they haters. He did not care.
In the early days he was amused by his sudden celebrity. Later he used it to his advantage. He never saw other conservatives as competitors. He was in the fray to advance everyone. He was not a backstabber.
Andrew Breitbart will be missed enormously by the conservatives and by anyone who enjoys a laugh at the expense of a pompous ass. Some of us will marvel: how much more merry mayhem might he have achieved if he had lived.
About the Author
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn’t Work: Social Democracy’s Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives’ Road to Recovery.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (23) | Leave a comment
More Articles by R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.
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irish19| 3.1.12 @ 7:46PM
R.I.P.
IMHO, the best tribute to him would be to resoundingly and thoroughly trounce zero and his minions in the Nov. elections.
Dick Simmons| 3.1.12 @ 8:44PM
He fought the good fight. One shouldn't be amazed or stunned by the venom being spewed by the morally dead that style themselves "progressive". One may as well be upset at hyenas tearing at a lion's carcass. It's what they are. My father once said that you can't be bothered by the opinion of everyone but those who you love, trust, or respect. No one like Andrew achieved anything of merit, fearing to be disliked. He had moral courage and faced the enemy unafraid. RIP.
max_kain| 3.1.12 @ 8:46PM
We lost Andrew, the man, but we gained so much more. Look at how galvanized the conservative base is now, how many of us are more ready to contribute in the arena of ideas and argue that conservatism is the ONLY way to save these United States. Andrew Breitbart, the man, will be missed. Andrew Breitbart's legacy will live on much longer than the man and, God willing, help pull this country back from the brink.
Simon Templar| 3.1.12 @ 9:44PM
The news of his death has left me very troubled and extremely sad. I feel like I lost a brother, even though I never met the man, I feel like I did.
He represented to me what conservativism what meant to be, what it should be, and what it might be for the next generation.
I saw a long time ago in him something original, fearless, and in many ways the antidote to progressivism. He was much more than just a warrior but a thinker who could see the big picture and could think with a fresh out of the box perspective. Maybe being a formal liberal and growing up in this world was a tremendous asset for him in understanding exactly what we are fighting and facing.
Odd thing, I was at a friends home having dinner the other night and brought his name up to them.
They had not heard of him so I briefly explained to them just how new, cutting edge, and fearless this guy was. They knew about the Acorn news scandal but not that he was the guy who broke the story. I could never imagine what would take place a few days later and it seems surreal.
His fearlessness in finding the truth and his courage to fight for conservativism unapologetically with humor, grace, and sometimes in your face resolve when necessary is something very rare and precious.
The man never took cheap shots at anyone and was able to back up everything he said as well.
He did not get bogged down in petty politics, or the politics of the moment, or the cheap, sordid, and profane politics that we have seen in this campaign and even on these blogs.
Given the testimonies of so many others including Mr. Tyrrell's, you see a man who saw common ground more than differences and never forgot who the real opposition was and is....
He was able to keep his eye on the ball and not get distracted, played, or intimidated by anyone. It certainly is also a testimony to the level of his character that he helped everyone in this movement and befriended so many of different stripe and pursuasion. Thank you Mr. Tyrrell for sharing your personal interactions with Andrew with us and your kind words.
albert constantine jr.| 3.1.12 @ 11:07PM
He was also literally willing to put his money where his mouth was, offering bounties for video of slurs allegedly hurled at minority members of Congress and attributed to the tea party, but never produced.
Orygun| 3.2.12 @ 1:54PM
That was my first thought was the feeling that I had lost a brother that I never had the opportunity to meet and shake his hand and thank him. I have his image stored in my heart and may God give him rest. I will sorely miss him.
Rann| 3.1.12 @ 11:33PM
He's only 43 and dies. He is out walking alone at night. Near home. Probably something he did a lot. So one following him or shadowing him or observing him could observe this pattern in his life.
Breitbart is about to provide evidence that the Obama associations with anti-American cronies goes back many years. (and put the lie to the story that they are just neighbors, the spoken Obama lies)
And he's now dead. Yet how many saw him just two weeks ago at CPAC.
I smell a hit job. This deserves a look, delving into.
Douglas Fletcher | 3.2.12 @ 3:17AM
There will be an autopsy. People in apparent health do die suddenly, and I have seen somewhere that he did have some history of heart problems.
BTW Breitbart's main associate has said they will be releasing the videos Breitbart spoke of at CPAC, within 10 days from now.
Tom| 3.2.12 @ 3:15PM
I agree. Within an hour it was announced that he died of natural causes. What? At age 43, natural causes? I too smell a rat.
Tiddly| 3.1.12 @ 11:52PM
So, as in the Iliad, one of our best warriors, a champion, is down. Who will pick up his arms, now, and carry the fight forward?
Douglas Fletcher | 3.2.12 @ 3:18AM
For now, everyone who votes against Obama in November will be doing their part to carry on Breitbart's legacy, imho.
Brian Mc| 3.2.12 @ 6:24AM
I just went back to Breitbart's website but could not find the video I watched there, yesterday. I believe it was a southern senator who gave an eloquent speech describing J.Q. Adam's impact on Lincoln and that he felt that the same will transpire for Andrew's legacy. Worth watching, if you can dig it up.
Your Excellency| 3.2.12 @ 3:46AM
Thanks Bob he indeed will be missed.
beebop2| 3.2.12 @ 6:01AM
I am going to confess that there were moments when he made me uncomfortable. I think it was his style. When I listened to Rush, Hannity and their callers and then began to read the tributes to him, I realized with a clarity that I had not recognized that Andrew Breitbart brought forth the passionate defense of our beliefs and how we react to the unravelling of the hard work and sacrifice and planning of the generations of Americans who fought to make us a nation where every person can be who he or she is meant to be. I pray that there is someone else out there who can shake the conservatives of his nation out of their reverie ...
Tim| 3.2.12 @ 11:17AM
What a Loss!
The man leaves his neighborhood watering hole at 11:30 PM and is dead at 12:19 Am
Makes you wonder..........
dudette| 3.2.12 @ 7:00PM
I am devastated--i never knew Andrew but he felt like family to me and was he my hero? Darn right. Change the culture--more conservatives in pop music, art, movies, and we can change politics. And take it to the enemy dont be timid. In their face.We miss him so much. We are praying for him and for his family.
POST American| 3.2.12 @ 10:25PM
MEANWHILE,
as this journal, and the capstone 'masters'
behind it, continue to BURY the stunningly
ANTI-Constitutional NDAA 1021, and as
we consider fuirther the ever more
unnatural looking 'natural' death of
Andrew Breitbart --who himself was on the
eve of 'unsealing' the sealed college legacy
of Obama ---CHECK THIS OUT!
'WHY Obama CAN KILL ANYONE'
-Atlantic
Oct 3, 2012
Our time has come.
-------------THE REPUBLIC HAS FALLEN------------
"Let's ALLL DIE
--------or LET'S DO IT."
-Thomas Carlysle
----------------HUAC/ NUREMBERG-----------------
LET'S DO IT.
TeaPartyPatriot4ever| 3.4.12 @ 9:42PM
Andrew Breitbart not only thought the left was absurd, but he understood how dangerous the radical far left is, as well as the liberal GOP RINO Republicans, because the RINO right, can be just as dangerous when they undermine the Conservative righteous cause every step of the way, at every turn.
The far left agenda is not just one of a political party difference of opinion, it is their radical saul alinsky tactics of extreme hatred and vile intolerance for anyone who dared to question, let alone challenge them and their methods, for which they then use their favorite saul alinsky tactics straight from his book rules for radicals, to intimidate, threaten, denigrate, humiliate, demoralize, mock, insult, and polarize, which can be a work all to well, especially when the leftwing media apparatus complex conspires and coordinates these attacks. And Andrew knew they did so not just against the conservative Republicans, but they did so against the American People, Freedom, Liberty, Justice, and the US Constitution, which is their ultimate goal, to bring down America as a Constitutional Republic, any way and means they can, where they can, how they can.
Anyone who ever tries these tactics on anyone, for political ideological reasons, or any reasons, are the enemy of Freedom, Liberty, and Justice, period, and Andrew knew exactly what they were doing, were all about, and went after them with a passion not seen by anyone in conservative circles. That is why he was fearless, like a lion going into the liberal lions den, and beat them back, and that is why they, the left, hated Andrew, which is why Andrew loved it, as he knew he was on target when they spewed vitriolic hatred at him.
In the military, when you aren't getting flack, your not on target, which is where Andrew was, right on target.
blotto| 3.4.12 @ 11:10PM
Why do you insist on calling the left, liberals?
Ted R.| 3.5.12 @ 12:14AM
Awhile back Breitbart had a story in the Washington Times attacking affirmative action. I reeled of some terse riposte on the blog comments page, and got about thirty angry conservatives falling over themselves attacking me. Funny thing is, my original comment had been deleted. You see, that's the kind of guy Breitbart was - the kind of guy a lot of Con media blowhards are - bullies who can dish it out but can't take it. He was a perfect example of your species - what counts as a conservative "thinker" these days. His passing is pathetic, in every sense of the word.
threeleafclover| 3.5.12 @ 2:43AM
Do you honestly think if a coroner's investigation in Los Angeles turned up a suspicious, tiny needle mark in spot on Breitbart's body, impossible to have been self-administered it would ever come to light? Who was that man who died after being similarly "hit" on a crowded street in London a few years back? It happens.
Could he have left his glass of red wine unattended? Are there poisons incapable of being detected? Are there drugs that could stimulate a heart that was already compromised in some way? And leave no evidence?This untimely death invites conspiracy thinking.
But you will never know from the L.A. Coroner. They do not have a reputation for thoroughness or incorruptibility.
threeleafclover| 3.5.12 @ 3:07AM
OK, in 1978, in a suspected KBG assassination, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian defector and BBC commentator - - - a poison pellet containing an estimated 0.28 mg. of ricin was stabbed into his thigh with the tip of an umbrella. Three days later he died of cardiac failure, having developed in that timeframe a host of other ailments (following the "hit") No ricin was found in his body but the doctor recreated the scenario by injecting a laboratory pig.
No L.A.Coroner is not going to be that thorough.
Andrew Breitbart feared no one. He had no body guards. Unlike the weasel, David Brock who fears everything, including his own frail shadow. TAS, can you believe you once had Brock on payroll?
threeleafclover| 3.5.12 @ 3:12AM
The pig died in similar fashion with similar ailments.