R.I.P. Andrew Breitbart, the Friend I Never Really Met.

I didn’t know Andrew Breitbart. I wish I did. I had a couple chances to meet him at CPAC last month, but he always had a throng around him and I’m no good at pushing though crowds, so I didn’t take the opportunity to introduce myself. I doubt that he knew who I was, though we had several friends in common. Despite that, I considered him a friend because, though he probably didn’t know me, he would have had my back if I needed him to because that’s the sort of man he was.

And now, he is dead at the age of 43. He left a wife and four children. My heart breaks for them and for the legion of people to whom he was so very dear.

Andrew was fearless, a warrior for conservatism, and a man who knew that friends are dear in this world so you’d better fight for the ones you have. And he did. Oh, how he fought on behalf of his friends. We remember how he want to war for his conservative friends like James O’Keefe and Dana Loesch, but we should also remember how he went to bat for Arianna Huffington. I admire that. I wish we had more of it in this world.

Andrew Breitbart was a good man and we will miss him.

Well, not all of us. Some among the progressives couldn’t wait to leap up and down like the goons they are deep inside and fling the biggest piles of poo they could excrete. Andrew seemed to get energy from his left-wing critics and it’s entirely possible that he would rejoice that his death cause such prominent members of the left as these professional bloggers and frequent MS-NBC guests to tweet like this today.

It’s confirmed.Breitbart has passed away. http://t.co/gpOwndWx Ironic legacy is that no one was sure because it was reported by his website.

March 1, 2012 11:10 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@cenkuygur

Cenk Uygur

Conventions around dead people are ridiculous. The world outlook is slightly improved with @AndrewBrietbart dead.

March 1, 2012 11:27 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@mattyglesias

Matt Yglesias

If you think @AndrewBrietbart‘s opponents shouldn’t be glad he’s dead, you’re not taking his life’s work seriously.

March 1, 2012 11:40 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@mattyglesias

Matt Yglesias

Surprisingly, Media Matters, which whom Andrew battled almost daily, refrained from celebration (though the comment section of their post is a cesspool of hate like he received from the left every day of his life). He would also not be surprised at all that the Associated Press couldn’t resist getting in a few biased (and untrue) digs at him in its story about his death.

I want to leave you with something better though, better even than the speech he delivered at CPAC this month. Please read these tributes by Melissa Clouthier, Matt Welch, and Jonah Goldberg. They both knew Andrew far better than I and confirm what I knew to be true, even from a great distance. He was a brilliant, joyful, creative new media visionary who was filled to the very brim with love for his country, his family, and his friends. My condolences and prayers are with his family and all who considered him dear.

UPDATE: Breitbart is here.

UPDATE 2: From the National Bloggers’ Club, a fantastic tribute video.

Other Posts of Interest:

• If Conservatives Want A New Media Environment, They’re Going to Have to Listen
• Breitbart Goes to the Mattresses
• Daniel Hannan: I Hope They Fail (UPDATE: Wolverines?)

Tags: Andrew Breitbart, Conservatism, Featured, In Memoriam, New Media

Category: Conservatism, Cool Columnists and Wicked Writers, In Memoriam