To Every Thing There Is a Season...

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the Heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1

I had the privilege of knowing Andrew Breitbart before he left us far too early back in 2012, and it truly has been an honor to have my byline on the website he founded during this past year.

But, as the Bible verse (and song) says, to every thing there is a season, and the season of my time as a writer with Breitbart has come to an end.

A Time for Happy Warriors

March 1 marked a sad anniversary: two years since Andrew Breitbart passed away at the far-too-young age of 43. This morning, as we launch this year's CPAC, I look back on Andrew’s legacy, what it meant, and what it can continue to mean for Texas and America.

Andrew was the quintessential “Happy Warrior,” a phrase immortalized in William Wordsworth's poem, which defines the Happy Warrior as a “generous Spirit:”

I Smite Thee, in the Name of Andrew!

We miss you, happy warrior.

We lost Andrew Breitbart just over a year ago. 

Since then, there have been endless discussions about how best to honor his memory, pondering over whether anyone could possibly fill his shoes.

As I look back over the past year, I'm sad to admit that I think we as a conservative movement are doing a very poor job of carrying on Andrew's legacy.

The Man in the Arena: Remembering Andrew Breitbart

Today marks one year since I was awakened by a phone call from a friend calling to tell me that Andrew Breitbart had died at 43, far too young. 

Not only had I been lucky enough to get to know Andrew over the last year of his life, he was a huge influence for so many of my friends. In this wonderful world of bloggers, tea party movement organizers, investigative journalists, and other conservative activists in which I have traveled in these past few years, Andrew was our coach, our troop leader, our favorite troublemaker...but most of all, he was our friend. 

And so today, like it was last year, is tough because I am saddened by so many of the beautiful and poignant memories of Andrew shared by so many people I know (his face is a constant presence in my Facebook and Twitter feeds once again this week), but at the same time there is comfort in seeing so many people sharing a deep affection for this great man.

What happens in Vegas, isn't going to stay in Vegas

I'm in Las Vegas at the Right Online conference, sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, today and tomorrow.

There's a packed schedule with some great speakers, and you can watch the livestream of the conference here.

We will be having a tribute reception in honor of Andrew Breitbart later, followed by a screening of Occupy Unmasked. We saw a preview of the film at BlogCon earlier this year in Charlotte, and I'm looking forward to seeing the completed film. (If you missed it, my post collecting tributes to Andrew is here.)

Tribute to Andrew Breitbart at #BlogConCLT

I'm at BlogCon in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we just had a special screening of the new Stephen Bannon film, Occupy Unmasked, which features a lot of footage of Andrew Breitbart.

After the film, Jim Jamitis (@anthropocon on Twitter) presented Dana Loesch, Brandon Darby, Larry O'Connor, and John Nolte with a portrait he created as a tribute to Andrew for the Breitbart offices.

What a perfect way to honor the man...with his own words:

Big Patriotism

Just wanted to share this excellent portrait of Andrew Breitbart, created by Dale Toons:

Tweet of the Day

Andrew Breitbart, father of four, friend to many, and inspiration to countless more, was laid to rest today in California.

Big Journalism Editor Dana Loesch sent out a simple tweet a few hours ago with just "#war" as the only text and this photo:

Two videos, one voice: #IAmAndrewBreitbart

In case you missed it, Andrew Breitbart's websites relaunched last night with a fantastic, updated layout and a renewed commitment to do the job that the media failed to do in 2008: vet the record of Barack Obama.

Take some time today and wander around Breitbart.com - there's some incredible content posted there during just the last 24 hours (you will definitely want to check out Andrew's last article: The Vetting, Part I: Barack's Love Song to Alinsky).

Breitbart in 140 or less

Image by Bosch Fawstin

I wrote a post about Andrew Breitbart's untimely passing yesterday. I didn't know him as well as some others, who had these amazing personal stories to share about him, so I wanted to gather as many links as I could find. It  is a great tribute to him that there are so many people out there whom he personally affected.

(Note: I'll probably do one or two more updates, so if your post isn't yet included, please post it as a comment or send it to me on twitter @rumpfshaker.)


Andrew was a creature of social media if there ever was one, and many people took to Twitter yesterday to share their memories of him. Accordingly, it seemed fitting to do one final post in his honor with a collection of tweets.

So, here is Andrew Breitbart, in 140 characters or less...

We have lost a giant: RIP Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012) [UPDATED to include lots of links]

Today, we have lost a giant.

I received a phone call this morning with some incredibly sad news: that Andrew Breitbart had passed away.

I had gotten to know Andrew over the past year, and I am so sorry that more of you will never get to know what a warm, kindhearted, wonderful man he was.

He was incredibly generous with his time, and loved to sit and chat with anyone who wanted to get more involved in politics. Over the next few days you are going to hear many, many stories from conservative bloggers and activists who he personally encouraged (I've linked to some below - if you'd like your post linked, please post it in the comments or email it to me). The word I keep hearing this morning about him is "fighter," and he truly was.

They hate, Breitbart laughs

Last week at CPAC, we were shown a trailer for a new documentary about Andrew Breitbart called "Hating Breitbart," which the filmmakers describe as "the story of how one man with a website upended the traditional press and repeatedly found himself the target of a media feeding frenzy."

The film includes footage dating back to 2009, when Breitbart was attending some of the early tea party events, and of course lots of great coverage of his involvement in the crusades against ACORN and the takedown of Anthony "That's 5:45 in Seattle I think" Weiner.

Here's the "safe for work" version of the trailer:

The difference between me & Glenn Beck is when I rant and rave, I make sense!

On Tuesday, I was on The Ed Dean Radio Show to discuss Glenn Beck's comments about Newt Gingrich, his feud with Andrew Breitbart, and the latest on the Republican primary presidential race. Oh, and I go on a rant or two about the damage caused by unrealistic conservative commentators, the quest for a "perfect" candidate, and flirting with third parties.

From Left to Right

I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again: one of my favorite things about going to conservative conferences is meeting so many other passionate conservative activists and bloggers. One of the new people I met at CPAC Florida last month was Brandon Darby, a former leftist organizer who is now a conservative.

Darby has a very interesting life story and earned notoriety for his role as an FBI informant stopping radical leftist plots, including one to bomb the 2008 RNC Convention. He is still active as an activist, just on the conservative/tea party side now, and writes for Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com website.

Darby shared some of his experiences and how he made the philosophical journey from left to right at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation during CPAC Florida (video below the jump):

Morning Coffee Reading for June 7, 2011

Here's your morning coffee reading for today:

• DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (or as those of us who remember her days in the Florida Legislature know her, "Wasserperson") has taken the offensive and logic-deprived stance that asking voters to show ID is like the "Jim Crow" laws from the early 20th century. Yeah, being asked to show my driver's license is equally as oppressive as segregated schools, poll taxes, and making blacks sit in the back of the bus. Yet another example of "words ceasing to have meanings" when a liberal gets a hold of them.

RNLA | The Republican Lawyer Blog | DNC Chair Compares Voter ID to Jim Crow

• Senate candidate George LeMieux seems determined to follow in the footsteps of his liberal-lovin' former employer, The World's Tallest Oompa-Loompa. Charlie Crist followed up his flight from the Republican Party by joining top Democrat donor John Morgan's law firm and even donating to Allen West's Democrat opponent. Now "LeMaestro" has selected as the finance chairman for his Senate campaign Peter Rummell, who played a large role in the election of Democrat Alvin Brown in the recent Jacksonville mayor's race.

The Shark Tank | Senator LeMieux's Finance Chairman Backed JAX Democrat Mayor Brown

• New York Congressman Anthony Weiner has been getting a lot of attention lately for what has become known as "Weinergate." Here are two of my favorite articles summing up yesterday's press conference, in which Weiner admitted that he had sent the scandalous photo in question, and had engaged in online relationships with other women around the country:

The Other McCain | Anthony Weiner Press Conference

Ace of Spades HQ | New Thread: Were You Fully Erect, Congressman?

• And let's not forget the pre-game show to Weiner's press conference, where Andrew Breitbart showed up, was questioned by several reporters present, and then took control of the podium to deliver one of the more memorable press conferences in history. (Hat tip: Melissa Clouthier and The Right Scoop)

• Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz continues to rack up the endorsements, including Erick Erickson, Mark Levin, Club for Growth PAC and now FreedomWorks PAC.

Ted Cruz Press Releases | Momentum: Four Major Endorsements

• Here's an interesting analysis of how the 2012 Senate races may breakdown nationwide, and a discussion of some inherent advantages that the GOP may have:

Washington Post | PostPolitics | Chris Cillizza | Republicans' path to Senate majority in 2012 goes through their home territory

• An excellent RedState diary post about the tendency to attack Republican presidential candidates as RINOs:
  

RedState | rogershru2 | So and So is the true RINO

• Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush, has joined Team Hasner, sending out this tweet yesterday in support of Florida Senate candidate Adam Hasner:

Just heard FL GOP senate candidate @AdamHasner. Very Reagan like. He has a primary and I'm pulling for him.Mon Jun 06 22:13:09 via Twitter for BlackBerry®Ari Fleischer
AriFleischer

• Hasner also added to his list of supporters Former Ohio Secretary of State and co-chair of the group "Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment" Ken Blackwell:

Hotline On-Call | Blackwell Endorses Hasner

•  D'oh! In a recent news story, Fox News showed a photo of Tina Fey dressed as Sarah Palin instead of actually using a photo of Palin.

The Right Scoop | Fox News shows Tina Fey in on-screen graphic for Sarah Palin

That's not Sarah Palin.

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Andrew Breitbart is going to save the world

The full title of Andrew Breitbart's latest book is "Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save The World!" 

"Save the World?" I have to admit, when I saw that title, I rolled my eyes. I mean, I love Breitbart's websites and I cheered his role in the takedown of ACORN, but come on.

Andrew Breitbart says he's going to save the world...is he serious?

Well, after reading the book, I have to admit, yeah, he just might do it. As I turned page after page, the thought that kept popping in my head was a simple one: "Breitbart gets it, he really gets it."