On the Death of Andrew Breitbart

I never had the pleasure of meeting the man. I am, however, completely certain I would have enjoyed his company. His was a transcendent personality … the kind that calls out to all kindred spirits willing to take the initiative to notice.

I must say I have struggled with “how” to “take notice.” It was, naturally, de rigueur, for a blog with this blog’s theme and mission. But, as should be abundantly clear to the most casual observer of this blog, serious commentary is incidental, though not central, to its construction. That is, incidental in a seriously calculated way.

Which makes it difficult to construct serious eulogies.

Then, of course, there is the regular cadence of my own life that I must live, which naturally takes priority over all.  For example, the thirteen year old boy’s house league basketball team just lost their first round playoff game against a lower seed - because they did everything right … except force enough shots via the power of their will to fall inside the rim rather than outside it. Those seven kids learned a great lesson tonight, which was confirmed by the broad smiles on their faces as they left the court losers. No, not the kind of faux satisfaction that comes from the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ Soccer Mom ethos – more the kind of satisfaction that comes from being satisfied by the good fight well fought. Plus, they know they can still plow their way through the loser’s bracket. I expect the disciplined execution of happy warriors to yield a good result beginning with tomorrow’s game.

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Sure, I could easily envision myself raising a glass to the man.

And, sure, while struggling with the “how” to “take notice” question – via my well worn method of strolling down the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll - I could have simply reprinted one of many takes encapsulating some aspect of my own feeling – like this treatise on how he taught conservatives to commit principled provocation (kind of like stealing a rebound).

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Then it came to me, in my own quirky way, whilst listening to my Pandora Radio feed on my more or less nightly stroll down the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll.

Astute readers of this blog may have noticed I am a Kinkophile, musically – meaning, of course, I enjoy the music of The Kinks to an unexplainable and unaccountable visceral degree. It’s an undiagnosed mental disease. Just ask Ray or Dave Davies.





Nevermind the transitional Kinks period these videos document, from the early 70’s art house incarnation to the late 70’s arena rock incarnation. (The girl singers are good, aren’t they? Too bad they don’t fit the format next year. And who the hell is that bass player, anyway?)

No, it’s the ethos of the perfectly crafted songs ‘Misfits’ and 'Celluloid Heroes' that I wish to offer as a eulogy for the great Andrew Breitbart.

Breitbart was the misfit warrior for all misfits. Raised in ultra-liberal Hollywood, he had the courage to fight, really fight, that is, for the opposite of what he had been spoon-fed. Because it’s what he felt and believed – no other reason.

If anyone deserves a place on Hollywood Boulevard – it is Andrew Breitbart. Period. End of Sentence.

Update 3/3/12

Upon review of the original post, I have decided a few words on how I mean the reader to take the term 'misfit' are in order. It does not mean unable to function in the civil society, or functioning at a low level. It means quite the opposite - functioning at a high level due to being the square peg that does not fit the round hole erroneously assigned by the civil society. The highly functioning misfit is the invaluable personality the collectivist / statist mentality disregards as inconvenient. The highly functioning misfit animates the Libertarian Conservative / classically liberal ethos. Andrew Breitbart was the most awesome square peg in the giant round hole that is ultra-liberal Hollywood. He refused to sit down and shut up, like today's Leftist media / entertainment / gub'ment orthodoxy instructs conservatives to do constantly. That's what I meant by eulogizing Andrew Breitbart as a 'misfit warrior for all misfits.'