We had all piled into a car driving from Indianapolis to St. Louis, me, my husband, and Andrew Breitbart. We listened to Darkwave on Sirius XM, talked about Peter Murphy, Occupy Wall Street, and the great American experiment. Throughout the trip Andrew asked to pull off the highway no fewer than six or seven times in search of the iconic, small American midwestern town. What should have been a few hours’s drive turned into an all-day excursion and what seemed familiar to us looked new through his eyes.
“A family-run restaurant in a barn, we MUST eat there!” he proclaimed after passing a sign naming the attractions ahead at the next exit. We ate at a barn, strolled a mostly-abandoned old main street, stopped at a gas station where he looked at bait while eating a fried Twinkie on a stick. He marveled at the simplicity offered by small town America and the way life always found a way to move on, in spite of the muck and the mud of politics which consumed him. I think he loved meeting people so much because within each of them he found some redemption for the soulless creatures who call the political swamp their home.
He really was a happy warrior. He made the business of the nation fun. The right has lost a lot of that.
When you’ve been in activism and commentary since your 20s like me, you’ll make a few mistakes. No one defended you more vociferously than Andrew. When the world was coming down on you Andrew was always the first to push back. When two on the right fought, he was the mediator to remind you of the real opposition. If there was criticism to give it was done constructively and privately. Advance, advance, advance, was his creed.
The right has lost a lot of that, too.
He traveled a lot, but would stop a storm so that he could check in at home. He was loud, comical, scatterbrained, unabashedly honest, insightful, and loyal. He was a friend to many, a mentor to most, and a walking blueprint for the conservative movement he so loved.
These 11 years on, let’s remember his example.
I didn't have the pleasure to listen to him as he wasn't on any of the radio stations in my area. Through the Dana show I see how his influence boosted Dana to where she at today. Rip.
Can’t believe it has been 11 years. He was a pioneer and a visionary. Had he still been alive this country would be different for the better today.