{"id":6523,"date":"2012-03-01T10:06:30","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T18:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6523"},"modified":"2015-06-16T15:59:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T22:59:47","slug":"bigbeyond-andrew-breitbart-dead-at-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6523","title":{"rendered":"BigBeyond: Andrew Breitbart Dead At 43"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/cm?t=newscorpsecom-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;asins=0446572829&#038;ref=qf_sp_asin_til&#038;fc1=000000&#038;IS2=1&#038;lt1=_blank&#038;m=amazon&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;bc1=000000&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;f=ifr\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"alignright\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe pugnacious proprietor of the conservative collection of <em>&#8220;Big&#8221;<\/em> blogs (BigGovernment, BigJournalism, etc.), Andrew Breitbart, <a href=\"http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/lanow\/2012\/03\/andrew-breitbart-collapsed-while-walking-near-brentwood-home.html\" target=\"_blank\">passed away<\/a> last night while walking near his home in Los Angeles. At 43 years old this can be described as nothing less than shocking and a tragic blow to his family, including four young children.<\/p>\n<p>I never met Breitbart but, in some distant respect, I knew him via his work and my study of his consuming mission to assault and\/or reform the American media. We have that in common. However, it is a shallow connection as we probably would disagree on every matter of media and politics that might arise. Breitbart wrote in his autobiography, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0446572829\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=newscorpsecom-20&#038;camp=0&#038;creative=0&#038;linkCode=as1&#038;creativeASIN=0446572829&#038;adid=1N0FNP0CY18131326ED1&#038;\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Righteous Indignation&#8221;<\/a> (See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4460\" target=\"_blank\">my review here<\/a>), that&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The biggest point I wanted to make was one I&#8217;m still making: Hollywood is more important than Washington. It can&#8217;t be overstated how important this message is: the pop culture matters.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That was a view that he carried into almost every aspect of his work. He was a fierce practitioner of publicity stunts and relished opportunities to perform a sort of media jiu jitsu wherein the force of the press was deviously turned against itself. Who can forget the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eIJRyJkQXyc\" target=\"_blank\">hijacking of the press conference<\/a> that was called by former congressman Anthony Weiner by Breitbart, who commandeered the podium prior to Weiner&#8217;s arrival? Breitbart took questions from the assembled reporters as if it were his own press conference.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"float:left;text-align:center;color:#4646DC;width:210px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4148\/4844388355_78b6d13fc5_o.jpg\" width=\"200\"\/><br \/>\nI originally created this image to portray Breitbart negatively, but today let it stand for what the character ultimately represented: Courage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There is no cause of death being reported at this time, however, Breitbart was known to have heart problems. If true, there is a lesson here in that Breitbart was also well known for his hard-drinking lifestyle, which is not recommended for people with bad hearts. Our health is a treasure that we should all take care to preserve because our lives belong to more than just ourselves. Ask Breitbart&#8217;s widow, Susie. If you drink excessively, or smoke tobacco, or subsist on junk food, this would be a good time to reassess your priorities. You owe it to every person that loves you.<\/p>\n<p>On days like this the animus of adversaries is subordinate to the reflection on a broader fate that all of us share. Breitbart&#8217;s passing is a deeply personal and somber event for those who cared about him, and their grief is deserving of respect. There will always be another day to lock horns in the battles we wage over the issues we mortals regard as significant, but significance, as it turns out, can be relative. For now I send my condolences and best wishes to his family, and hope that they can soon manage to find more gratitude for the time they had together than grief in their loss.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[Update]<\/strong> Michelle Malkin (among others) is <a href=\"http:\/\/michellemalkin.com\/2012\/03\/01\/devastating-andrew-breitbart-r-i-p\/\" target=\"_blank\">making a fuss<\/a> about some random <em>&#8220;lefty&#8221;<\/em> Tweets that are less than civil about the news of Breitbart&#8217;s passing. It is unfortunate (and disgusting) that she is exploiting this family&#8217;s tragedy for her political agenda. I don&#8217;t want to get into a debate with her, but when 99% of the left has been respectful, including Shirley Sherrod, David Shuster, Josh Marshall (TPM), Eric Boehlert (MMfA), and more, Malkin&#8217;s grousing is just plain sick. And besides, she might want to look back and see how Breitbart dealt with the death of another public figure, Ted Kennedy:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p>Rest in Chappaquiddick<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; AndrewBreitbart (@AndrewBreitbart) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewBreitbart\/status\/3551156537\" data-datetime=\"2009-08-26T05:42:29+00:00\">August 26, 2009<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/andrewbreitbart\/status\/3552511234\" target=\"_blank\">he later Tweeted<\/a> <em>&#8220;Why do you grant a BULLY special status upon his death?&#8221;<\/em> Breitbart is fortunate that his critics have more grace than he did. And Malkin, and the other rightist tools trying to turn this into a partisan brawl, should STFU. At least for a day or two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The pugnacious proprietor of the conservative collection of &#8220;Big&#8221; blogs (BigGovernment, BigJournalism, etc.), Andrew Breitbart, passed away last night while walking near his home in Los Angeles. At 43 years old this can be described as nothing less than shocking and a tragic blow to his family, including four young children. I never met Breitbart [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[597],"class_list":["post-6523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-andrew-breitbart"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-1Hd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10548,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=10548","url_meta":{"origin":6523,"position":0},"title":"Attorneys For The Estate Of Andrew Breitbart Threatened With Contempt Of Court In The Shirley Sherrod Matter","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/15\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Even in death Andrew Breitbart manages to be a major league dickwad. Last week attorneys representing his estate, in a case where he was being sued for libel by former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod, failed to answer the court's questions regarding the estate's finances. When the lawyers couldn't even tell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4612,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4612","url_meta":{"origin":6523,"position":1},"title":"Andrew Breitbart Is Offended (And Offensive)","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/8\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times interviewed Andrew Breitbart about the Anthony Weiner affair on Saturday. He attempted to strike a non-partisan tone saying that... \"I am as offended when John Ensign acts like an idiot, when Chris Lee acts like an idiot.\" However, the Times failed to note that Breitbart's BigGovernment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2256,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=2256","url_meta":{"origin":6523,"position":2},"title":"Shirley Sherrod To Sue Cowardly Andrew Breitbart","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/29\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Shirley Sherrod spoke today at a convention for the National Association of Black Journalists. Andrew Breitbart was also invited to speak. He initially accepted the invitation but later rescinded his acceptance. Perhaps he chickened out after he heard that Sherrod would be there. Breitbart has good reason to be afraid.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6485,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6485","url_meta":{"origin":6523,"position":3},"title":"Andrew Breitbart&#8217;s Delusional David Brock PhotoGate Conspiracy","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/25\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The chronically choleric Andrew Breitbart is well known for his histrionics and hyperactive bluster. One need look no further than his recent psychotic tirade aimed at Occupy protesters in Washington, whom he castigated as rapists and murders, to understand the depths of his dementia. On his BigGovernment blog yesterday, Breitbart\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1573,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1573","url_meta":{"origin":6523,"position":4},"title":"This Is How Stupid Andrew Breitbart Is","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/24\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The terminally choleric Andrew Breitbart is embroiled in a flame war with journalist Max Blumenthal. The online altercation was sparked by Breitbart's dishonest defense of ersatz pimp, James O'Keefe. Then it flared up at CPAC. Blumenthal valiantly, but vainly, attempted to get O'Keefe to sit still for an an interview.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4277,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4277","url_meta":{"origin":6523,"position":5},"title":"Andrew Breitbart Throws Glenn Beck Under The Bus For Throwing Him Under The Bus","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/20\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This just keeps getting better. Last week the feud between conservative stalwarts Glenn Beck and Tucker Carlson became public in a big way with Carlson's web site citing numerous rightist pundits who claim that Beck has plagiarized them. Beck shot back accusing his critics of jealousy. Andrew Breitbart was one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6523"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28843,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6523\/revisions\/28843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}