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The Spectacle Blog

Andrew Breitbart, Conservative Visionary

By Matthew Vadum on 3.16.09 @ 10:44PM

Refusing to engage the ideological enemy in popular media invites failure, argues Internet news entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart.

He's absolutely right to say that conservatives "can't win the political war until we take on the Hollywood and mainstream media battles."

Breitbart offered this reflection after running the gauntlet of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" (video available at Breitbart's Big Hollywood website) where he was tag-teamed by a liberal elitist host and a self-important pseudo-intellectual named Michael Eric Dyson.

"Pretty much everyone I respect in media and politics" warned him not to appear on the show, but he did and writes in today's Washington Times that he had the time of his life. Maher and Dyson worked hard to rough him up, but he left knowing he won the rigged bout "simply by showing up."

The payoff was immediate. After finishing the shoot, "I felt like I had gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson and Roberto Duran. But when I got back to my dressing room, my BlackBerry was filling with messages from people I've never met, many of whom disagree with my politics but were compelled to praise my willingness to enter the lion's den."

One self-described liberal Democrat who emailed Breitbart wrote he was dismayed at the appalling treatment the conservative media figure received:

I felt that you were given very little meaningful ability to speak; when you requested evidence to back up the claims that were being made, you received none and when you were requested not to interrupt by Prof. Dyson (and politely heeded his request) you were then constantly interrupted. As a side note, I have watched the show for several years and have never witnessed the audience applause to be so intrusive and so obstructive to meaningful debate. I suspect that you don't care much about what occurred and likely anticipated it. I definitely care, not least because it has been my opinion that the ‘shouting down' tactics and lack of respect for evidence have been characteristics of the right more than the left in US politics in recent years. Overall, I still believe that, but what occurred on the show has given me much pause for thought. Please continue to engage in sincere debate with ideological opponents and please continue to exercise a higher standard of manners.

It's the tiny little leak in the proverbial dyke as Breitbart sees it, a modest step that lays the foundation for liberals to eventually see the error of their ways and move rightward. "We must plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the groupthink liberals in our dumbed-down and activist media culture," he writes.

Shying away from dealing with liberals in the media when leftists control both the White House and Congress is a recipe for disaster:

The problem with the withdrawal approach is that it cedes the popular culture debate to the other side. We figure talk radio, a certain cable news network and some independent Internet venues will allow for us to get our ideas out to the masses. Well, those few outlets are greatly outnumbered. They are also isolated and targeted for destruction by the activist left. The sitting president (using taxpayer money) is now leading the charge.

Again, he's right.

Matthew Sheffield and Noel Sheppard of NewsBusters made the same argument in "Inside the Disinformation Machine: A Look at the Left's New Media Operation,": (Foundation Watch, September 2008)

Conservatives and libertarians must take their activism to the web. They should participate in mainstream online communities like the video website YouTube, the open-source encyclopedia Wikipedia, and social bookmarking services such as Delicious (formerly del.icio.us) and StumbleUpon where readers share stories with other community members. These services offer a tremendous opportunity to present freedom and free markets to uncommitted voters and citizens.

We have only just begun to fight.

View all comments (13) | Leave a comment

Angel| 3.17.09 @ 12:19AM

I love Andrew Breitbart! He appears semi-regularly on Fox's Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, (Gutfeld--what can I say?) where he opines on the current issues of the day. Andrew is smart, cogent and deadly serious about promoting Conservatism--and he always does it with a smile. Charming!

ruth| 3.17.09 @ 1:08AM

Don't give up on California, Vadum. Not yet. Like you've so eloquently stated, "We have only just begun to fight!"

Matthew Vadum| 3.17.09 @ 1:18AM

California doesn't need conservatives, Ruth. It needs revolutionaries!

ruth| 3.17.09 @ 1:28AM

We wouldn't if they'd just close the damn border and send everyone elses' liberal freaks back home. I'd start with Hollyweird first. C'mon, quit picking on my state; at least we didn't give the country Obummer, (though, sadly, Nazi Pelosi hails from NorCal--sorry).

LawhawkSF| 3.17.09 @ 1:32AM

I was one of the numerous conservatives who advised Andrew not to go into the liberal lion's den. I also told him I wouldn't even watch the show, both because I find Maher repulsive, and I didn't care to see an ally get chewed up by the jackals and hyenas. He was right. I was wrong. If he, or any other conservative/libertarian wants to brave the meat-grinder, I'll support him. I'll even watch the show.

ruth| 3.17.09 @ 1:36AM

Maybe we could arrange to be in the audience; I'll bring the rotten tomatoes. I used to have a pretty good fastball in college.

SDSurfer| 3.17.09 @ 1:56AM

Ruth: "Maybe we could arrange to be in the audience; I'll bring the rotten tomatoes. I used to have a pretty good fastball in college. "

I heard Al Gore is having trouble selling tickets for his April 1st monologue at the Chicago Theater. Maybe a bunch of us can go and offer some Maher style "encouragement" to the windbag.

Schizoid Mann| 3.17.09 @ 4:27AM

Andrew is absolutely spot-on in his assessment that the bastion of American liberalism, the media (and education) need to be confronted directly if any change is desirable.

To paraphrase Ron Silver from West Wing, we must not cower in the corner and ask not to be hurt. Something tells me that Ron was giving not just Bartlet's team, but everyone, all of us in the real world, some very good advice in that room.

(Thanks Aaron for writing that scene. And of course, thank you, Ron, dearly, for bringing those words to life. Rest in Peace.)

Regardless of your politics, it is true, one cannot allow themselves to be painted with the broad brush of misinformation and continue to be defined by their opposition.

The new media is here and now. There has never been a better time for action.

commonsense247| 3.17.09 @ 4:31AM

As the liberal left is increasingly met with intelligent, potent, common sense, and reasonable arguments they cannot win, deny, or refute, they will continue to resort to their typical juvenile tactics of ridicule, adolescent bickering, and excessive hyperbole. Gibbs is already off to a big start.

Jack Marino| 3.17.09 @ 6:47AM

Mr. Vadum, you're article on Andrew is right on. I love your John Paul Jones quote it sums up what I have been doing out in Hollywood for over 25 years. I 'm an independent filmmaker with conservative ideals a I made a film called FORGOTTEN HEROES. It is the only film to honor and pay tribute to the Vietnam Veteran. I have all my information on my site. I am selling my DVD directly to the public and going around Hollywood that blacklisted me because of the politics of my film. I have been fighting this war with the left for 20 years just with this film. Even President Bush has seen my film and I have his letter posted on my site. If you want to hear about one conservative filmmaker out in Hollywood dealing living in the Land of the Intolerant in the Valley of Rejection, then I have a story for you and your readers. Thank you for your time.

beth| 3.17.09 @ 7:36AM

There's an upside to the intolerant left. They are too busy declaring the Republican party dead and all dissent against their ideals as the rantings of rednecks and racists. They won't see the backlash coming. And they might just look stupid and arrogant in the process.

"So much the better, we shall fight in the shade"
- Dienekes, 480BC