A Sad Legacy for Breitbart
What a sad man Andrew Breitbart was.I confess that I NEVER bothered to read any of Breitbart's original copy or tweets, I always got my news about his nonsense from friends and associates here at DU. I am struck by just how wasted his life looked at the end. I look at what he was said to have been engaged in and why and I'm struck with an immediate urge to track back to what I've been doing with my own life in the recent and distant past. It is a sad and petty end to reflect back on all of the manipulations and deceit that Breitbart had admitted to engaging in 'saving the world' from those he disagreed with.
He was said to have lacked a shut-off valve by someone remembering his outbursts and attacks on liberals and others who dared to question his antics and assertions. He looked to have believed that there was some redeeming end to all of his brand of muckraking and demagoguery. The result, though, was just alienation and just another wedge in the tired, regressive wedge politics that republicans adopted as their platform decades ago.
As we reflect on our own politics and the ways in which we interact with each other, I think it matters how we prosecute our ideals, almost as much as the ideals themselves. The end result of our politics should be an effort to bring folks together around our issues and initiatives, not seeking to alienate just for the sake of staking out some spot for our sweet selves and expecting that the rest can just go to hell.
We changed generations and generations of folks' mindsets through leadership and example of those who stepped out front to advocate for one position or the other. Many civil rights leaders, for example, lead in a way that we all could follow, if we so chose, and it transformed decades of animosity into a nationwide movement of reconciliation and accommodation.
There are a few conservatives today, like presidential candidate, Gingrich, who are celebrating Mr. Breibart for his unbridled and unapologetic 'creativity' and 'courage.'
Martin Luther King, Jr said, "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."
Andrew Breitbart was bent on constructing ways to tear those dikes down to encourage instincts like fear and divisiveness between Americans in our political debate and in our legislature to further his agenda. That's a sad footnote to a relatively short life.
That's a sad and awful legacy to encourage anyone to follow. Let's hope that looking back on his political past encourages all us to be more mindful of the end game of our politics and work to resist the urge to alienate in our debates and advocacy.
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