Andrew Breitbart Dead At 43
News is slowly coming out this morning confirming that Andrew Breitbart, the conservative journalist firebrand, passed away last night at the age of 43 in Los Angeles:
Conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart has died, according to his website Big Government. He was 43.
“With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart,” the website reported Thursday morning.
The cause of death was not immediately revealed.
“Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles,” the Big Government post read. “We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.”
It continued: “Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.”
ABC News has confirmed the story:
Andrew Breitbart, the noted Internet publisher and author, has died, according to a source at Big Journalism. He was 43.
A statement posted on his website said that Breitbart died “unexpectedly from natural causes” this morning.
The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office confirmed to ABC News Radio that Breitbart died shortly after midnight at UCLA Medical Center.
The following statement was posted on Breitbart’s website today:
“With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart.
We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.
Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.Andrew recently wrote a new conclusion to his book, Righteous Indignation:
I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and—famously—I enjoy making enemies.
Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands—who knows?—of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night.
Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us.”
No word on a cause of death, although I must say that having seen Breitbart in passing several times during CPAC just last month he certainly didn’t seem like a man with any health problems. I can’t say I’ve ever been a Breitbart fan, and I’ve criticized his work several times, but 43 is too young to die and there’s a wife and four kids who are grieving today. So, Rest In Peace.
Update: I’m not going to censor anyone’s comments except in extreme circumstances, but the whole idea of “If you don’t have anything nice to say…..” would seem to apply in this situation. At the very least, let’s try to avoid acting like these people.
Update #2: Mediaite reporter Tommy Christopher, who once famously butted heads with Breitbart outside a meeting room at CPAC 2010, has this to say:
Words completely fail me right now. There will be more to say later, but right now, all I feel is shock and devastation at the loss of a friend, and a man who was loved by many people whom I consider friends. My heart goes out to them now, and in the days ahead.
Andrew had a great many detractors, many of whom I also consider friends, and although he reveled in their hatred, I hope every decent person can respect the grief of his friends, and their own humanity, enough to grant silence.
Sounds like good advice to me.
They say one should not speak ill of the dead….
Not even going to pretend that he was a decent human being worthy of condolences. Andrew Breitbart was a terrible person. I know some will say “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
To which I say, “If you can’t say anything nice, you have a lot in common with Andrew Breitbart.”
I’m ashamed at my own first thought when I heard the news.
May he rest in peace.
Screw it…I’ll say it.
The world is a better place today.
Breitbart was a scum-bag liar who would, and did, destroy lives and institutions in order to further his own faulty ideology.
Too bad about the kids…they didn’t pick their father. The wife chose to marry a psychopath.
Why no word on the cause of death one wonders? No doubt we’ll find out.
.
We should be nice about Andrew Breitbart. After all, when his political enemies died, he was classy!
Oh, wait…
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/08/26/57997/breitbart-kennedy-twitter/
Again, he was horrible person and we’re better off without him in the world.
I feel for the wife & kids. Whatever you think of the man, his kids lost their father at the age of 43, and that just sucks.
I won’t BS and pretend to be sad about Breitbart himself. After all:
@Brummagem Joe: If this was a liberal, Pat Robertson would no doubt be telling us his death was God’s punishment for his views on something or other.
I feel bad for his family and close friends.
Well Doug, I guess no one has broken what you call ” extreme circumstances” in the comments above. If “scum-bag liar who would, and did, destroy lives and institutions in order to further his own faulty ideology” posted by Hey Doug is not extreme I am wondering what in you mind is?
@Michael Demmons:
Do you realize you just compared yourself to Pat Robertson?
There is no reason to expect partisans to be classy about death given that they aren’t classy about anything else. And I’d actually prefer that obnoxious people maintain their dispositions when speaking about the dead, as they may prevent white washing of the deceased person’s history, which can be dangerous.
P.S. not sure how you die of natural causes at 43
I don’t celebrate anyone’s death. But I do state the obvious. He was an awful human being. The political world is a better place today. I don’t apologize for saying that. He was a liar, an asshole, and the complete personification of everything that is screwed up about American politics.
I do a lot of traveling around the world. It is precisely because of people like this horrible person and the world view he promotes that America is often laughed at the world over.
And if you don’t believe this, try getting out of the country sometime and see what people actually think. People like Breitbart are an embarrassment to this country and I am not sad when one of them goes. Ever.
What Mr. Breitbart considered appropriate upon the death of someone he loathed:
This is not to defend Ted Kennedy. I rather suspect he was a prick.
Rather, it is to point out that whey you make your name spouting nasty, inflammatory rhetoric, there should be no expectation that it won’t result in people hating you. Indeed, Breitbart said he enjoyed making enemies. He said and did things that people found despicable. Now he dies and he gets the treatment he dished out upon Kennedy’s death… and people are gonna whine about it?
…
Jay – heart attack would be my guess.
^ This.
@PJ:
After reading what Michael Demmons linked to, I just want to say that I miss the edit button.
—-
AP is reporting that he collapsed while walking near his house.
Just a thought, if he had died closer to the election, then James O’Keefe could have voted in his name.
@Michael Demmons:
So when Michael Moore dies I’m sure you’ll be fine with all the nasty comments likely to come from the right?
This is what I mean when I talk about how too much of American life has become politicized to the point where we are supposed to continue hating someone even after they’re dead.
@ Texas001…
Scum-bag is hardly extreme. The rest of the sentence you reference is verfiable fact…something Breitbart had little or no familiarity with.
In addition I think Breitbart’s own behavior should guide us in this circumstance. Live by the sword…well you know the rest. The link provided by M. Demmons is an excellent datum line.
If Andrew Breitbart thought there was a chance he wouldn’t be hated after his death, he probably would have been disappointed and wondered what he’d done wrong.
It would be more accurate to say that America has become politicized to the point where someone like AB could fashion an entire career out of self-publicizing his role as a rabid partisan and do quite well at it. That is the really scary part.
@ Doug…
In 99 44/100ths of cases I would agree with you on this.
Unfortunately Breitbart was a special kind of slime…indeed the very personification of which you speak.
Giving him a pass because he has passed? That was not earned by his own behavior.
@Rob in CT and @Michael Demmons:
Don’t you two see that you are using Breitbart’s own standard to justify your attacks on him? You criticize Breitbart for schadenfreude after Kennedy’s death and then turn right around and engage in the same kind of Schdenfreude after Breitbart dies. Why, in light of that, should anyone think your character is at all better than Breitbarts?
I don’t care what people say about Michael Moore. And I don’t know why you think I would care about him either – unless you think that every liberal has some sort of love affair with him.
But I will say this:
Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for going to war baed on false pretenses.
Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for taking health insurance from people.
Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for the right of people to free assembly.
Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for giving already filthy rich people more money at the expense of poor people.
Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for the second class treatment of gay people.
Michael Moore never once asked a Republican president to prove he was a citizen.
Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for women to be denied the right to choose.
Andrew Breitbart advocated for ALL of this. And he became a hero of the right. I think he was a miserable, disgusting human being because what he believed, and the power he had to push those beliefs was disgusting. I despised the man in life, and I’m not going to be a hypocrite and give my best wishes to people grieving for him just because you and others think that I should follow some standard of decency that Andrew Breitbart himself never followed.
Screw that. Please…
RIP……but the guy was a POS.
@Andy: Because I think people should say what they think instead of pretending to care that someone is gone. I don’t agree with Breitbart’s characterization fo Kennedy, but I’m glad he said what he thought, even if I thought it was vile.
Died in his sleep of natural causes? What dirt was he going to expose on me and my college day? Ha Ha Ha….Guess we’ll never know….or maybe?
Kind of reminiscent of the Clinton era. Well, back to ruining the country!
@Andy:
My reaction was to feel sorry for his kids, but not miss him. I’d have left it there, but then there was gnashing of teeth and rending of garments because others did attack him (particularly Norm).
I pointed out that his own standard justifies those attacks. Therefore, fans of Breitbart have no standing to complain.
You are likely not such a fan, and are objecting on general principle. Well, best of luck.
And oh by the way…he died at UCLA Medical Center…a Government run Health Care facility. Why didn’t he go to a free-market health care facility?
@Michael Demmons:
So your think Brietbart is a bad person solely for the crime of advocating opinions you disagree with? The problem with Brietbart was his methods, that he was willing to engage in all matter of fraud to further his agenda, not that he disagreed with me on politics. But Moore is a bad person as well for the exact same reasons.
And frankly, if you’re going to boo one and cheer the other just because one happens to be on “your team”, there’s really no difference between you and Brietbart. You have the same partisanship by any means necessary view of the world that made him so loathesome.
I will leave Breitbart’s ultimate judgment up to The Big Guy, but I will say this about him: He left the world in a worse place than when he arrived in it. If you want to take that as an insult, so be it.
@Doug Mataconis: Andrew Britbart is getting back exactly what he gave. He was a vile, hateful, bigoted soul and the world is better without him.
That said, no one deserves to loose a father and a husband and my condolences go out to his family.
As for Micheal Moore, he too will one get back all the hate and filth that he spews out.
I’m 43 and don’t like this talk of death by “natural causes”. I figured I’d be at least 50 before contemporaries started keeling over!
Also, I hope his body is donated to science so there can be a thorough study of the long-term effects of rage.
You people are disgusting. May the God you don’t believe in forgive you.
@Rob in CT:
Yes, I’m I’m probably tilting at windmills.
@Stormy Dragon: I think Breitbart was a bad person because he was a LIAR who perpetrated FRAUD on the American people because he knew that a media completely scared to death of being labelled “Librul” would repeat everything he said as though it was fact.
He was simply an un-American human being who played a major role in completely f-ing up political discourse in this country. I’m not going to say he was the only one or that lefties haven’t done similar. But he was batshit insane about it and the political system will be VASTLY better without his participation.
He always struck me as a very angry man, willing to go to any lengths to advance his cause. He contributed to upping the rage level but lowering the content of political debate.
That said, may he rest in peace. My condolences to his family. Forty-three is much too young to go.
I do think his passing will help to cure the polarization of America.
Wow, some of the comments here are so off the rails insane there needs to be an intervention and perhaps even involuntary commitment to a mental institution. Seriously. Time to up the dosages of those meds, Sparky.
Regarding Breitbart, I hardly paid any attention to his work and the only one of his blogs to which I devoted some effort, Big Hollywood, was on account of one of the contributors being a personal friend and attorney/business colleague of mine.
Separate but related topic: It so happens that I’m 43 years old and when I saw the headline of this man’s passing my blood ran cold for a few moments. Forty three is way too young to die. Sobering.
RIP and condolences to Breitbart’s family and close friends.
Danse macabre. The great equalizer. We are all going to die.
That Breitbart went before me, and happened to be a lousy human being, does not remove the fact that he was a human being. I do not pretend to care about his death. Celebrate the end of his political actions, but do it in your own skulls. Do not celebrate his death.
For the record, my first thought was this was a hoax.
His skill was drawing the Left out into the light, exposing its hideous face.
As we see, his magic remains. The light he turned on still reveals even as Andrew Breitbart has gone dark.
There’s a temptation to dance on this fellow’s grave which I think should be resisted because it elevates his importance. Ultimately he was just a small time hustler trying to cash in on the hate and paranoia of a sizeable number of conservatives. He was at the lower end of a food chain that starts at the top with people like Murdoch and Limbaugh and that sputters out with two bit chiselers like Erickson and Malkin.
@Michael Demmons:
And yet, your itemized list of what was wrong with Brietbart focusses solely on beliefs and not his actions. Further, it attempts to draw some sort of distinction between Brietbart and Moore, who is just as much a fraud, again base purely on positions rather than actions.
Your caps-locked concern about fraud and lying seems to be very situational.
Unforunately, Brietbart didn’t play a major role in messing up our political discourse. He was just one of a massive horde of similar people, and frankly in a few days I doubt we’ll even notice he’s gone, much less notice some major seachange in the degree of polarization in our society.
@Michael Demmons: “Michael Moore doesn’t advocate for going to war baed on false pretenses…. Andrew Breitbart advocated for ALL of this.”
Dude, Breitbart wasn’t even on the radar when Iraq and Afgahnistan hit the fan….
Breitbart behaved utterly without class when Ted Kennedy died, and in most of the rest of his life.
The best revenge you can have is to simply to react with more grace than he ever had. I never wanted him dead, I just wanted him to grow up, and it’s sad that he never did.
I don’t know much about Andrew Breitbart, though my general impression is that he lowered, rather than raised, the quality of political discourse in America. We shouldn’t wish death upon such people, and should feel sympathy for their loved ones when they die.
However, I have never understood the custom of “not speaking ill of the dead”. What is the purpose of this? The person himself will not be hurt by any negative comments made after he is dead. His family is probably not scouring blogs or comment threads right now, either. When it comes to people who have had an impact on our society, we should be free to discuss whether that impact was positive or negative.
Those damn conservatives like Andrew Breitbart are so hateful and mean-spirited. We liberals are tolerant and compassionate. It’s ok if we celebrate the death of a fellow human being because we vote for Democrats!
Agreed! I never understood this rule that we have to pretend to be careful of disrespecting someone hated after they die. Why can’t we freely call a dead person a scumbag while simultaneously not wishing upon them the death they ultimately succumbed to?
@Septimius:
One of the sheep. One of the shearers has departed….have no fear there are plenty more waiting to take his place.
@Vast Variety: “As for Micheal Moore, he too will one get back all the hate and filth that he spews out. ”
Hate and filth? Geeze, hasn’t anyone here ever seen one of Michael Moore’s films? The right-wing portrait of him bears about as much relation to the truth as their portrait of Ronald Reagan… and far too many who aren’t on the right are willing to accept that.
The only way Moore and Breitbart are comparable is in the same way that MLK, Jr. and Bull Connor were — after all, they were both just fighting for what they believed in.
I think the rule should be simple: speak what you believe to be the truth.
Breitbart was a dick. The sentence for dickishness is not death.
He was also a husband and father and of course I’m sad for his wife and kids.
@TC@LeatherPenguin: Dude, Breitbart was Drudge’s founding partner. Which means that he was in the picture, even if you hadn’t heard of him.
Well said, Mr. Reynolds.
@Tillman:
Ditto that.
Second thought (as another soon-to-be 43yr old), was DAMN – far too young, irregardless of his politics.
As for not speaking ‘ill of the dead’, sorry – if you were an ass in life, death does not change this fact. I have felt and said this about members of my own family, so I am not being hypocritical.
I was once actually a fan of AB, but he went completely off the rails and let his ‘fame’ go to his head. He played the part of partisan hack better than most and made a killing off it (honest, no pun intended). Reap what you sow…
Heartfelt condolences though to his family and those that loved him. It is never easy losing someone, and no matter how I, or anyone felt about the ‘public’ Andrew, there was also a personal man who by all accounts (from what I have heard), was a wonderful husband and father. To them – Peace.
@michael reynolds:
If it were, who of us would be spared?
@michael reynolds:
Thank god, or I think most of us commenters here would be in hiding. ;>
@michael reynolds: “Breitbart was a dick. The sentence for dickishness is not death.”
But I think one of the things people respond to in instances like this and Christopher Hitchens’ death is that there was no sentence at all in this world for their dickishness. Indeed, their dickishness brought them fame and fortune far more than any intellectual contribution to the discourse.
Mike
He was an unethical dick.
@ Reynolds…
That he was a dick understates it.
The man ruined lives for the sport of it.
Did he deserve to die? Of course not.
Is the world a better place for it? Of course.
@michael reynolds: “Breitbart was a dick. The sentence for dickishness is not death. ”
If it was, we’d be suffering some population losses this morning.
I will not mourn nor miss Bretibart or his style (while will no doubt be aped by some lesser imitator) but he was a man and a human being, and so is deserving of at least some respect.
That said, anyone using this to prove to themselves once again that The Left (Tm) are all soulless devils….consider Doug’s question above about Michael Moore. It’s not liberalism that causes people to diss their enemies when their dead; it’s human nature.
The profound vulgarity of the thoughts expressed in the thread confirms why I rarely come to this once great site.
@Drew:
The commenters are responsible for their own comments and can be judged accordingly.
@ Drew…
There…fixed that for you.
Facts are not vulgar. The lies and propoganda Breitbart used to destroy people and institutions were indeed vulgar. The manner in which Breitbart attacked Kennedy at his passing was indeed vulgar. I can only assume that was what you are refering to.
Drew doesn’t come here anymore because when he spouts his “wisdom” other commenters reject it. Not because people here are vulgar.
Remember Drew talking about another poster’s “two inch penis?” Yeah, that was classy. Not vulgar at all. If only discourse here were up to that standard, the Great and Insightful Drew would come ’round more often.
Breitbat’s legacy is this:
http://gawker.com/5889618/
He deliberately encouraged a sort of thinking which has absolutely no redeeming value. The man had talent thought, and I’m sorry to see it lost even though he misused it.
Not a fan of his, but this has to be hard on his family, 43 is still young.
@MBunge:
Hitchens is a totally different case. He not untarnished by dickishness but possessed an immense talent. Hitchens was dickish in the same way that T. S. Eliot or Evelyn Waugh were dickish whereas Breitbart was just a cheap and fairly talentless hustler rather as was Joe McCarthy.
De mortuis nihil nisi bonum–
I’m sorry for his wife and children. It must be terrible for them. Does anyone know how old his children are?
@Dave Schuler:
I would never have made it past my teen years.
@carpeicthus:
this.
come on people, have a little bit of decency.
Being a dick does not equal being a bully. In our lives, unless we are saints, most of us will end up performing both roles on occasion, and in turn end up being the audience for and victim of these roles as well.
People like Andrew Breitbart are the patron saints for the select who play but have figured absolutely none of this out.
Breitbart never directly harmed anyone who didn’t sorely have it coming.
Breitbart embodied the “Breitbart Rule” — if you attack him, you won’t destroy him, and he won’t destroy you; he’ll just enable you to destroy yourself.”
Breitbart never lied about anyone; he was occasionally wrong, but he was never caught openly lying. On the other hand, he caught a lot of leftists in lies. Recall the fictional “N-word” incident at the Capitol? Breitbart offered $100,000 to anyone who produced a video of it happening. There were a couple hundred cameras that covered every single second, and no one claimed the reward.
No wonder the left is celebrating. his passing. He did heroic work in challenging and exposing their frauds.
Thank God. Jenos is here to opine.
/flatlining
@ Jenos…
As per usual you are completely full of $hit. So full of $hit it that doesn’t even bear a response.
Sherrod. Acorn. The Missouri Proffessors. Breitbart lied about lying.
Doesn’t suprise me that you are clueless. I think Jenos means clueless in some language somewhere.
@Hey Norm: And oh by the way…he died at UCLA Medical Center…a Government run Health Care facility. Why didn’t he go to a free-market health care facility?
Because, oh classless and clueless one, he collapsed on the street and was found unconscious. He had no say in the matter where he was taken.
Feeling proud of yourself?
@Hey Norm: I’ve already discussed the Sherrod case. Breitbart asked the ACLU for the full video, and they refused him.
ACORN was busted, fair and square. Reams and reams of bogus voter registration forms. “Volunteers” given quotas and told how to fake them.
The labor professors video was edited down from 30 hours, and no one ever proved Breitbart had removed any exculpatory parts. And there was plenty of nasty stuff on those videos.
Of course, I’m sure all these stalwart Breitbart-haters were equally outraged when Rush Limbaugh was denied partial NFL ownership based on racial statements he never actually said, too…
Re your first Update, Doug… I completely agree.
So this is what a blog looks like after all the civilized and rational people have been banned and driven away, huh?
Oh yes, Breitbart was BAD for our political discourse and he should be excoriated upon his death because he danced on the grave of Ted Kennedy.
Which proves you people are as classless and pathetic as . . . Andrew Breitbart.
Well done.
Now, if only Karl Rove and the koch would just drop dead. Things might have a better chance of turning around .
@Gary:
I was going to delete your comment for violation of our comment policy. I won’t but consider yourself warned.
And wishing people dead? That’s pretty sad
There was a lot of his work I disagreed with, but could forgive. When he made comments along the line of “The militarys on our side and we have all the guns”, that crossed any line of decency. Ted Kennedy had his faults, we all know that, but he never to my knowledge made comments about slaughtering his opponents.
I’m not one to fetishize “thou shalt not speak ill of the dead”. Knowing that he would have killed me or anyone else who shares my ideology if he could means that I’ll not be shedding tears tonight. Like the saying goes, I hope death gives him the peace that life could not.
@Doug Mataconis:
Fair enough, Doug. I still come to read the essays that you, James, Dodd or Taylor write ( and I do miss Alex, even though I always had to set him straight ;- ) but the other half of the equation …..the follow on commentary… Is just cesspool quality right now. just cesspool.
@ Drew…
There – fixed that for you.
@Drew: If we all promise to pretend we believe you’re the titan of industry you claim to be, will you come back?
@Doug Mataconis:
I will be “fine” with right-wingers celebrating Michael Moore’s death to the same extent that I’m “fine” with the rest of the lies and idiocy they spout. It’s their right and I agree with that right, even if I disagree with it.
As for myself, count me among the grave dancers. When I read the news this morning I said “YES!” while fist pumping. I don’t care if you think that makes me a bad person. Breitbart was an angry, dishonest, evil jerk who poisoned politics, ruined people’s lives, and made the world a worse place. There are others like him, but he was among the worst. His death is like a momentary gust of wind blowing the stench off of the landfill that is our politics. Unfortunately the stench will quickly return, but for now I’m enjoying a breath of fresh air.
@giantslor: Not sure what happened to the edit button, but the above should read, “…and I agree with that right, even if I disagree with what they say.”
@Jenos Idanian:
That may be the worst thing anyone in this thread has written.
@Ben Wolf: The specific individual I had in mind was former Congressman Andrew Weiner. Care to defend him?
Breitbart was a villain, a big ass motherf@#$er, a duplicitous bastard and a prick. He was a special pile of human excrement.
Oh wait….no, that’s what Breitbart said Kennedy was right after Teddy died. My bad.
Adios, Asswipe Andy.
@Michael Demmons: Who said “only the good die young”???
@Brummagem Joe:
Pretty sure it wasn’t a brain tumor. Probably just a bad case of terminal reich-wing propaganditis.
Oh well, now that the obligatory boo-hoos are over for Breitbart, what’s for lunch?
@giantslor:
Keep a close eye on the war criminal Big Dick Cheeeney and that fat fascist Rush Blimpboy.
They say bad things happens in threes…but sometimes good things do too.
Always interesting to see what happens when Karma comes a calling.
@Doug Mataconis: I don’t know about Demmons, but I defy anyone to find an equivalence between Moore and Breitbart, so when Michael Moore dies I will no way be fine with all the nasty comments likely to come from the right, but I won’t be surprised in the slightest.
@Andy: Because there are times when the truth is paramount, and this is one of them. Everyone on the right is acting like Breitbart was some kind of savior of the U.S., and even some on the left, whether to be polite or hedge their bets, are making admiring murmurs. So yeah, we need some truth in here, some reality.
@Brummagem Joe: He was not simply a small time hustler. He orchestrated the destruction of ACORN, a necessary organization that survived investigations by attorneys general across the United States, and slandered a government official out of her job. This is not small time.