dagblog - Comments for "He Wasn't Afraid To Make Enemies"

Definitions more to your

EmmaZahn — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 13:13:47 +0000

In reply to Gadfly? I really think this

Definitions more to your liking?

gadfly [ˈgædˌflaɪ]

n pl -flies

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) any of various large dipterous flies, esp the horsefly, that annoy livestock by sucking their blood

2. a constantly irritating or harassing person

[from gad² (sting) + fly²]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gadfly

Honestly, I was only dimly aware of Breittbart before he died. Never even saw nor heard the man but I have enjoyed reading his website, Big Hollywood, on occasion.

Gadfly? I really think this

SleepinJeezus — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 09:23:44 +0000

In reply to Andrew Breitbart, Force of

Gadfly? I really think this gives him WAY too much credit.

I think Breitbart is more in the realm of the shithouse fly who keeps flying back into that hole. I chose to never follow him, but there are many who did.

My obituary/eulogy of

SleepinJeezus — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 09:12:40 +0000

In reply to He Wasn't Afraid To Make Enemies

My obituary/eulogy of Breitbart would be very short (two sentences) and would read as follows:

I have heard it said that if I can say nothing good about a person I should say nothing at all. Andrew Breitbart is dead.

Hallo Destor. Josh had a

bwakfat — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 04:37:01 +0000

In reply to He Wasn't Afraid To Make Enemies

Hallo Destor.

Josh had a 'higher than thou' take on Brietbutt, and I understand why. It's kind of interesting, folks who think he deserves no better than the level of decorum that he himself practiced have been getting banned from the commenting section of TPM 2012. With prejudice even.

Seems eerily familiar.

For you election central junkies, the new chat at Mibbit is:

http://cbe005.chat.mibbit.com/

channel: #tpmregulars

Nick: wotevah you wish

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

GoBama 2012!

xoxoxox

Nor is Rush, obviously.

Peter Schwartz — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:35:41 +0000

In reply to He Wasn't Afraid To Make Enemies

Nor is Rush, obviously.

Andrew Breitbart, Force of

EmmaZahn — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:19:40 +0000

In reply to He Wasn't Afraid To Make Enemies

Andrew Breitbart, Force of Nature, Dead at 43 | Kevin Drum | Mother Jones describes him as a gadfly which is very accurate.

Gadfly = One who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant.

Are the two breeds mutually

Michael Wolraich — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:14:26 +0000

In reply to Every human brain is biased,

Are the two breeds mutually exclusively?

Sure, history is rife with outrageous examples of shameless political disinformation under the guise of journalism. But some of the greatest journalists in American history have practiced politically-charged journalism, and it's hard to imagine them writing without that ideological fire. Moreover, I think that the common charges against MSM--the false veneer of objectivity and the mind-numbing pursuit of even-handedness--are well-earned.

That's not to say that we should return to the days when every news publication was a mouthpiece for one party or the other. The idea of objective journalism was a tremendous advance, and it would be a tragedy to let it slip away. But I think that we also recovered something valuable when political voices joined the chorus, notwithstanding those discordant notes from Breitbart and company.

I've never read anything by

Michael Maiello — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:48:12 +0000

In reply to I can't recall ever having

I've never read anything by him that was longer than a rabid tweet. I've otherwise only seen him on the TV, getting the kind of attention that very serious journalists did not. And, I guess I'm guilty, too. Maybe I should have taken the time to blog about the late Mr. Shadid when we lost him, instead of Breitbart now.

I haven't followed him much,

Peter Schwartz — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:43:59 +0000

In reply to By the by it was Tom Wolfe I

I haven't followed him much, but maybe it goes back to his Mau Mau days when he concluded that all liberals were dupes, shallow and, ultimately, hypocrites.

For a good long while--though this fable has faded under the bright light of conservative lunacy--conservatives thought of themselves as people of the world, realists, keepers of the truth that life isn't fair (though we all wish it were).

Evil exists, they would assert, and there is a difference, god damnit, between good and evil. They thought of themselves as tough thinkers and strong decision-makers capable of making the hard choices adults must make.

At the same time, they tended to look down on liberals as though they were children who still believed in fairytales. Wolfe may still be stuck in this way of thinking.

I can't recall ever having

Dan Kervick — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:34:10 +0000

In reply to He Wasn't Afraid To Make Enemies

I can't recall ever having read anything by Breitbart, but I gather he was a gigantic asshole.