I think Matt Osborne sums it up perfectly:
I am not celebrating the death of Andrew Breitbart. I do object to his elevation in death, however. If you read the Huffington Post today, everyone from Arianna herself to the staff at Media Matters is expressing sadness at his passing. By this time tomorrow, his martyrdom will be incorporated into the right-wing canon and everyone will forget he was a serial fabricator.
Sure, his family deserves to mourn without answering for his actions in life, but media eulogies will likely gloss over his libelous treatment of Shirley Sherrod or his selective editing of ACORN videos. In a strange cultural inversion of Shakespeare’s take on Julius Caesar, American media tends to minimize the crimes of the living and tell only the good about the dead. This will encourage the martyr cult among his fans, for whom Breitbart will become a greater hero in death than life.
That’s about all I have to say about the subject.
UPDATE: I have more to say on the subject, actually (given that the full-blown hagiography even on the left is in full swing). I feel sorry for his family, especially his four kids — and that’s it. I don’t have a kind word to say about the man because he wouldn’t have had a kind word to say about me or anyone I care about. I’m not celebrating his death, but I’m not going to be solemn, either. Let’s not forget who he was and what he stood for. And if the only reason to not talk about who he was and what he stood for is that conservatives might use liberals’ words to highlight our purported incivility, then I say who the fuck cares? Seriously. I’m not a fan of crude jokes on the day of someone’s death, but I’m not going to ignore the racism and misogyny he promoted practically every time he opened his mouth. And, I’m not going to forget that Breitbart lied about Shirley Sherrod (which I wrote about here). If we can’t talk about his political positions and why they were poison to the political discourse and this country, then what are we even doing writing or discussing his death? Let’s just ignore it like we do so many others.
[via Osborne Ink]
It is already starting. WAPO has a couple of tools that are busy romanticizing this fuck’s accomplishments as if he brought anything to journalism. I am not sorry he is dead and I am not apologizing for my feelings. He hurt a good woman and smeared her name. He is a liar who got away with horrible things because of Zsa Zsa Huffington and the cadre of dumb fuck “journalists” who acted like giddy schoolgirls after every affront. He wasted a good 43 years of his life on hate. Good riddance and anytime Limbaugh wants to follow, be my guest.
Davy Jones, however? I will be curling up to some reruns of the Monkees and loving it. That is who I will miss.
I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. — Clarence Darrow
I have sympathy only for his children who didn’t choose to be related to him. His wife married him on purpose and his “friends” were other creeps just like him.
I am really broken up about this. Andrew Brietbart saw the truth….
And then he twisted the fuck out of it.
Buhbye you old white fucker, I won’t miss ya. That’s all I have to say.
Sometimes, the Universe self-corrects.
Share the sentiment re the grieving family, and it’s not that surprising that the same Ferengi media that ignored his habitual fabrications in life are doing so in death as well. TeaNN is literally falling all over themselves slurping the dude.
Aside from the family’s loss are these two tragedies: 1) Shirley Sherrod has been deprived of the opportunity to clean Brietbart’s clock in court and 2) the lies Breitbart told will be immortalized in the media not as the lies they were, but as truth.
“Ferengi media” — I am so stealing that.
Ding dong!
To quote Moms Mabley,
“They say you shouldn’t say nothin’ about the dead unless it’s good.
He’s dead. Good.”
Perfect.
A world without Andrew Breitbart is a better world. Now someone please take out Limbaugh.
My sentiments, exactly. I feel for his family. I don’t have one nice word to say about him, so I won’t. And, I’ve gone on with my day, because, people I actually admired and/or like died this week, and there are other things going on that are more important to me than some of the starfucking I’ve seen from people who are sad he died, for some reason.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, pass me the mike and I’ll say it for you.
It is in bad taste to speak ill of the dead, but that being said, don’t expect any tears from me in Andrew’s passing. He was as self-confessed pissant making it his business to annoy anything or anyone deemed liberal or progressive. He lived to annoy and that is what took him out in the end
Justice Wolf said it best: Show no mercy, for you will surely receive none. The karma wheel always evens the board. The Almighty took away Teddy, so Lucifer had to call Andrew home as well.
If one more person on twitter says “if you speak ill of him you’re no better than he is, be the better person” I swear I will track them down and give them an atomic wedgie, foll0wed by a right hook. Nobody suddenly gets a free pass on all the evil they did just because they stopped breathing.
I’m not jumping up and down about Breitbart’s demise but I’m not shedding tears over it either. Furthermore, I hope Shirley Sherrod goes forward with her suit if for no other reason to ensure that Breitbart’s name is permanently on record that he did a very hateful thing to somebody who never did him any harm.
I’m an old harpy and I have no problem dancing on his grave. He was a mean, nasty hateful person who hurt a lot of people. I’m sorry for his family if they are grieving but I’m not a bit sorry he’s gone. The world’s a better place without him.
Death does not confer sainthood no matter how many people would like to make it so.
Its sad to see Breitbart up and die – he was only 10 years my senior.
That said, that man did little to advance the discourse in the body politics. Breitbart made it cool to be an unrepentant jackass towards all who disagree with you and has coarsen our political dialogue. Its one thing to not believe in thing based upon core philosophical or religious views, its fine to disagree on the underlining principles of facts.
Its a totally different thing to create a world view based on utter nonsense. That’s Breitbart’s legacy, much like Limbaugh and Lee Atwater. Except Breitbart But unlike Atwater, Breitbart died before could make amends.
I feel for his family, but honestly, the man isn’t exactly going to be remember as a hero.
The asshole wingnuts who complain about “incivility” poisoned the well they now have to drink from, so too effing bad. They made hay out of Paul Wellstone’s funeral for being “politicized” (he was a POLITICIAN — of course his memorial included a lot about his political work — if he had been a composer or a poet, then his music and writing would have been prominently featured), they mocked Vietnam vets like John Kerry and Max Cleland (for goddess’ sake!) while valorizing chickenhawks like Cheney and Rumsfeld — fuck them.
I feel bad for Breitbart’s kids, too — but that’s it.
Besides, isn’t Breitbart’s death the will of God, ye good Christianists of the world?
I said this on another site about Breitbart:
I too am not a grave dancer, but the man was so hateful and so vile that I also cannot find any sadness in myself at his passing. I do feel some sadness for his family as my own father died at the age of 43, and while he was not hateful like Mr. Breitbart was, he did have his problems (including alcoholism).
So I do wish his family peace, and in more ways than one. I wish them peace in light of his passing, and I wish them a more peaceful life now that his hatred isn’t around to poison their lives.
I view Breitbart’s threat in the same I do Lee Atwater’s:
Tragic, but….
Sorry, I mention Breibart’s death.
Forget it, y’all…I’m tired and I need to take a break.
All I want to say is that Breitbart’s death reminds me a lot of Lee Atwater’s. They were both conservative and both pretty devious and despicable…and they both died at an insanely young age.
I mourn Breitbart’s death but…
But, at least Atwater asked for forgiveness on his deathbed, I dont think this man would have ever done that, if he knew he wasnt longed for this world.
He made his money on being a vile, hateful, duplicitous purveyor of lies and falsehoods, he gets no sympathy from me.
I guess I’m not “Christian” enough to put that all aside.
It was though his actions a great community organization was destroyed, a good woman’s name was dirtied, and the discourse of politics made all the more toxic.
I do not forgive this man, even in death, if there is a afterlife, may he be in a quiet room, with no walls, no way out, and no voice to scream, may he feel no pain, and suffer an eternity of being alone, and with no one to listen to him.
The only crime is that he didnt live long enough to repent, but I do not think he would have.
I feel for his family, but not so much as to forgive or forget the damage he’s done to hundreds, if not thousands of families to get where he is
Actually, Atwater claimed he was reading the Bible regularly shortly before he died. After his death, family members were going through his belongings and found his Bible. It was still in its packaging and hadn’t been opened.
Atwater may have asked for forgiveness which was a wise thing for him to do. However, even then he working the spin. From what I can gather, Atwater was a nicer guy than Breitbart, but he still had a devastating effect on American politics. Actually, I think it’s safe to say that Atwater laid the groundwork for Breitbart.
And for pricks like Ralph Reid and the turd blossom, Karl Rove, the legacy lives on long after the person dies. i wonder what troglodyte takes over Breitbart’ s mantle
Pardon my language, folks-but fuck civility up the ass with a cactus when it comes to this asshole. Breitbart was a liar, cheat and thief who made civility in politics fucking impossible.
“The party of personal responsibility” can kiss my little white ass if they think that we’re not supposed to talk about the man in EXACTLY the manor that his actions in life earned. Damn right I am celebrating his passing. He could have lived his life in such a way that he didn’t deserve for people to celebrate his passing. He chose not to.