Right now lots of Andrew Breitbart anecdotes are swirling around on the blogosphere and twitterverse. I didn't know the man, but I am a huge fan of his. I've read a lot of these anecdotes and tributes today. My favorites, by far, were those of James Taranto of the WSJ and, of course, my favorite person on the internets, Jim Treacher [I mean, Sean Medlock, I still am not used it!] of the Daily Caller. I've spent most of today following @jtLOL's feed; Sean's been paying tribute to Breitbart's penchant for comically retweeting his detractors' vitriole.
The core motivation of conservatives' love of Andrew Breitbart was not that he was hyper-conservative, because he wasn't particularly hyper-partisan. It was because he had no compunction for calling out the lying, smear perpetrating, and hyper-partisan liberal 'journalists' [or DNC talking point shills] in that ballsy in-ones-face manner in which most conservatives would love to engage.
By definition, conservatives are, well, conservative. I joked during the Health Care Act Townhalls that the liberal media's portrayal of angry violent conservatives at these townhalls was ridiculous as evidenced by their wardrobe: golf shirts and madras and sperrys. Conservatives' version of confrontation is the same as liberals' version of restrained/repressed civility.
And then there was Andrew Breitbart: a living, breathing, erudite id and ego of the conservative conscience without the usual self-defeating conservative super-ego. He was entertaining even at his most obnoxious moments. I do not think I have ever laughed so loud and hard at anything recently than watching his confrontation of the 2012 CPAC Occupy Protestors. "Behave Yourself!"
I pray for his wife and children that they may have strength and peace. I hope his children will always know just how beloved and brave their father was.
*Well, darn it, I hope someone writes a tribute this good about me some day. The Weekly Standard's Matt Labash obliges.
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