Today is the sad first anniversary of the death of Andrew Breitbart. And what more fitting tribute could there be than a journalist actually standing up to speak truth to power and being threatened by the Whitehouse for it.
Bob Woodward of the Washington Post wrote a story which clearly and factually points out that the sequester was initially proposed by the Whitehouse, and approved by Barack Obama before it was put on the table. And now that the sequester cuts are actually going to be enacted, the president and his toadies are lying about who's to blame. But those lies won't get traction if a journalist with Woodward's authority calls them lies.
Which is why Gene Sperling, one of the president's top economic advisers yelled at Woodward for a half hour, and then said if Woodward stuck to his story he would "regret it."
Thankfully, Woodward isn't impressed by the threats from this most rancid and anti-American of administrations. But tragically, the anniversary of Andrew Breitbart's death reminds us that the vast majority of alleged journalists are easily cajoled or bullied into spreading government-issued lies, and that there are too few courageous voices actually trying to get the truth out to a fact-deprived nation.
Andrew Breitbart, the man, can never come back - but his influence is still alive and kicking and causing headaches aplenty for the liars, cheats, and manipulators in high office.
Let us all continue to be inspired and motivated by his brave example.
39 comments:
I am Breitbart!
RIP
I never thought much of Bob Woodward until now - I think the press is just beginning to wake up to the idea that they are only puppets in Barry's regime. Do as he says, or get sent to the gulag.
It's time for real journalists to stop fawning over this president and his pseudo -celebrity wife and start speaking the truth - if they can remember how.
I was deeply disheartened a year ago. If we ever needed Breitbart around, it would be in the lead-up to the impending election. Well, a year has passed, but his legacy lives on. We need someone to start the first few grains of truth rolling down the hill of propaganda. Maybe, only maybe, there is enough integrity left in what was once a proud profession that the intimidation of someone as revered as Woodward can start an avalance of actually calling out the regime. Actually speaking truth to power, instead of having that be a Hanoi Jane punchline.
I think the press is just beginning to wake up except... not. It is the rare exception in the established media to act as Woodward has. The rest of them are simply mouthpieces, echoing the message of the liberal left exclusively. It's hard to wake up when you're not sleeping, but an active component of the effort to dismantle your enemy (that wold be us, by the way). No. I hold little hope that the "media" is waking up to their 1st amendment charter. Too many foreign infiltrator like piers anthony and far, far too many natural born traitors like chris matthews.
No, the turning point certainly won't come from the establish, accepted media. They are soldiers in the army against the US.
RIP, Andrew. Wish I could be more like you were.
I always had this quandary, I didn't like Bob Woodward, but I really, really didn't like Tricky Dick. Now, thankfully with the Light Bringer, I don't have this problem. Possibly Woodard can show these things that graduated from journalism school what a real reporter and what real reporting is.
I am heartened to see some others coming out and supporting what Woodard said about the WH (Jarrett) pressure on them, but unfortunately, the majority will still be sheeple lead to the slaughter. Case in point, ABC News(?) interview with Big Sis, letting her get away with that explanation on the prisoner release - not that the release was wrong, just the announcing of the release.
I ... I'm sorry, but I can't muster too much sympathy for Woodward for a couple reasons;
One, he's playing the same game everyone else does. Oh, it's not OBAMA doing this, or even knowing about it, it's his aides. Shades of the same in Russia, where "If only Stalin knew what was going on, HE would stop it." Newsflash, he DID know, where do you think the orders came from? If Barry didn't do it (gripe about Woodward) expressly, he certainly lent tacit approval to it.
Second, and this might be tinfoil hat fodder, but I can't help worrying at least in part that this is being used to take attention away from the sequester, and how Obama sold it as a bomb when it is really a tiny firecracker. Now it's all about the media, and I can't help wondering if this was another "squirrel!" moment this Administration is famous for.
Watching the media eat their own to save the Boy-King ... I wish I could say I was surprised, but I am beginning to believe this President could kill someone, an infant, on live TV, and the media would be falling overthemselves to defend him.
I HOPE some of the media aside from Lanny is waking up, but too many of them are still, to use a phrase Howie Carr used, rumpswab apologists. That I've seen comments online that Woodward "always leaned towards the GOP" scares the hell out of me.
This is the man who, along with Bernstein, took down Nixon (who did no less than many other Presidents), and people think he leaned RIGHT? That, right there, is weapons-grade stupidity (or outright lying) that Joe Biden ("shoot through the door!") or Maxine Waters ("the sequester will cost us 170 million jobs!") would be green with envy over.
But Obama and the media seem to forget -- some of us have long term memories -- we REMEMBER. We know which side floated the sequester. We remember what was said in the debates with Romney. We actually remember Watergate. We remember that Nixon's scandal had a body count of zero -- how many died over Fast and Furious? We know there are four American dead from Benghazi.
I still don't think much of Woodward, and won't until and unless he starts talking sense. The fish stinks from the head down -- Obama has the thin skin of an onion, and he's been treated like ROYALTY by the media! Call him out, ask why he isn't telling the rest of the media how inappropriate this is? Oh, wait, if Obama had a father, he WOULDN'T look like Woodward, so I guess that's it.
Can you imagine the media firestorm had the Bush White House done even a fraction of what Obama has?
Let's see if this has legs. Let's see how much hacks like David Gregory, Piers Morgan, and Chris Matthews actually CARE about the First Amendment (I'm betting not very much at all).
Sorry for getting heated, but this --- if it weren't really happening, it would make a great episode of "The Twilight Zone," that's how detached from reality it seems.
Every avalanche starts with a pebble or two. There are other cracks -- Juan WIlliams comes to mind. There is much disillusionment with Obama -- among his opponents and his supporters. His "it's not working yet" is slowly morphing into "it's not working" into "Obama's not working." Meanwhile, the fiscal crisis still is there, and John Kerry off to imaginary countries while Biden recommends illegal acts ... eventually all these pebbles will join together. And when the press really turns on him, it's not going to be nice.
I guess I just can't agree with the idea that this is the end, and Obama wins it all and nothing will ever get better again. Frankly, weirdly, I have hope for change -- the folly of our times will soon be in the history books.
There is a certain vindication for Breitbart in the fact that reliable leftist Woodward got the treatment from the Øbamunists as the anniversary of Breitbart's death approached. It gives us a glimmer of hope that Woodward isn't backing down, but I am not in the least surprised that the rest of the State-run media are circling the wagons around the Marxist In Chief and turning on Woodward.
Emmentaller - Surely you meant Piers Morgan? Piers Anthony is a (somewhat) respected fantasy novellest out of FL...
@Jim Hlavac - I wish I could agree with you that obama supporters are becoming disillusioned with barry. I want to agree with you. But while there may be a few of them slowly opening their eyes, I think the large majority of them will bitterly cling to the illusion that it's all someone else's fault.
To do otherwise would mean that (1) they suddenly begin to think, and (2) they would have to admit they were wrong. I doubt that many obamabots have either the capability or the will to do so.
As to whether or not this is the end and nothing will get better again, once again I hope you're right. But I'm not so sure.
@Emmentaller and Louis-- The fact that Woodward may or may not be the broken clock that is right twice a day is, at this point, moot. He has recognition as having been a darling of the Left and he is not alone in his refusal to toe the Party Line™. This is, I think, a case of the barn door still open after the horses have run away, and the dogs have been let out. I am in thrall watching the usual mediots try to spin this ...
Oh, CenTex Tim, I hope I'm right, too! Still, I look at things like Reagan and the end of Soviet Russia. Supposedly it was invincible. It indoctrinated the people for decades, far more than Obama and the liberals have ... it fell within weeks, months. Poof! Gone. Maybe it has to get worse here yet. But no one sits around the kitchen table to decide how to be poor and repress themselves.
@Jim Hlavac-- The Soviets were not, as a whole, stupid, lazy, indolent and parasitical. However, our pseudo-Socialists [with the fools who vote them into office] are all that and more. They will come crashing down faster and harder because they are precisely that: stupid, lazy, indolent, parasitical.
This just keeps getting more and more better!
@Snowpuss- I'm gratified that a lot of people are Breitbart today.
@Anonymous- We've gone so long without journalistic integrity that it's almost hard to imagine what our country would be like if truth started getting equal time. I'd love to see it happen.
@TrickyRicky- Andrew Breitbart's death cut me like a knife. I'm not at all sure that Barry would have a second term if Breitbart hadn't been silenced.
@Emmentaler- I agree that the bad actors in journalism will never change. They made Obama and they can't "attack" him (ie, tell the truth) without making an admission of their own culpability. Journalistic integrity will have to come from new sources and methods of communication.
Will that ever provide a large enough platform to sway the majority of voters? I genuinely don't know. But the fact that I'm still writing this blog means I haven't given up.
@Grumpy Curmudgeon- I'm still not nuts about Woodward. I think he wants to sell books, and nonfiction political books don't sell to Lefties, who believe they're staying abreast of current topics by buying Bill Maher's latest rant against America.
And Napolitano was, quite literally, unbelievable on the topic of the "sequester" release of prisoners. When asked what offenses these criminals were guilty of, she basically said "that's a good question. I'll look into that." Which sort of seems like something which should have been done before turning these offenders lose on an innocent public. But Napolitano was allowed to get away with it.
@Earl Allison- Great post! I, too, think that Obama is being served by the whole illusion that the sequester is a big deal. And to be truthful, in reading Gene Sperling's "threat" to Woodward, it's simple not a threat... just a poor choice of words. Woodward deliberately whipped up the whole "threat" meme to get some attention for himself (though I ran with the topic today because the Whitehouse clearly DOES intimidate reporters into lying for them).
You make a good point about the outrage people like us feel because we remember the outrages and the actual history of events. Frankly, I'm afraid that younger Americans have been dumbed down and their attention span has become so limited that they're incapable of storing information or using it to analyse events. "History" is what they're told it is, and it can change from second to second.
@Jim Hlavac- As always, I appreciate your optimism and belief that things can get better. Personally, I just hope in the future there will be history books.
@Louis la Vache- I think it's unlikely that other journalists will emulate Bob Woodward unless they see him getting good rewards for his efforts (like a bestselling book). Perhaps greed may motivate them where morality couldn't.
@Pete (D)- Good catch! My eyes saw Piers Anthony but my brain said "Piers Morgan." Although both men do specialize in fantasy.
@CenTexTim- I personally believe that the only way Obamabots can start thinking is if they first get a big, unpleasant wakeup call. Like a cutoff of all benefits, or a good old fashioned economic collapse. And even then, I'm not sure they'd "get" it.
@Gang of One- No question but that there's a buttload of spinning going on with this story from all sides. And I'm sick of spin. It's all a sideshow and a distraction.
@Jim Hlavac- I'm appointing you the Hope n' Change morale officer of the day. Thanks for the optimism!
@Gang of One- Interesting and valid point; the Soviets did want the opportunity to have better lives even if it meant working to get them. I'm not so sure that's true of enough people in America anymore (although their attitudes could change if given a taste of genuine poverty).
And I like your link, which describes the insulting, threatening, and profane way this Whitehouse deals with the press. This is why I laugh (in a sad and slightly dangerous way) when people say that even if I don't respect Obama, I must respect the office and treat him accordingly. Bullshit. He has disrespected the office so thoroughly that it means nothing to me, and will mean nothing to me until an individual with integrity and a belief in America is returned to the Oval Office.
Never thought I'd see it (that's a lie, nothing surprises me anymore) where the press' protection of the "Greatest Affirmative Action Hire in History" has seen the day where the most famous practicing journalist of the modern era is ridiculed, mocked and accused of senility -for practicing journalism.
They openly aped and teased Bob Woodward on Morning Joe today like it was recess at a middle school. And sadly, he took it. Andrew Breitbart would not have.
@Stilton "I'm afraid that younger Americans have been dumbed down and their attention span has become so limited that they're incapable of storing information or using it to analyse events. "History" is what they're told it is, and it can change from second to second.
Having worked for a short time in two school districts here in Texas, I can say that "History" is taking a beating from the liberal school boards. Most do not want to teach any history prior to the end of the reconstruction period. Don't want the kids learning what the Founding Father's but their lives on the line for and how politicians are corrupting the Constitution/Bill of Rights, and allowing the "loudest rules" to trample the will of the voters. Luckily, one of the districts parents reclaimed the BOE and are revising the student curriculum for the better. The other district is still wallowing in it's liberalism.
Significantly, it is also sad that in many of the countries that we 'liberated', the voter turn out for a national election is over twice that recorded in the United States. Sadly, we get what those who don't vote put into office.
Perhaps Bob Woodward IS doing this for personal gain and to kick-start his fame, but I'll take it. It just might snowball on po widdle Barry, and that would be answer to prayer. I just wish it was somebody younger; the ignorant children that voted HRH Barry into office twice don't have the slightest clue who Woodward is or how he became famous.
Yes, Andrew Breitbart is sorely missed, and so far nobody has filled those shoes adequately. Another reason to keep pushing and praying and to not give up!
This is a good reaction:
The Sequester
Though, knowing 'ol "Smoke and Mirrors Barry", I wonder what he is diverting attention from - Benghazi? Sandy Hook autopsy reports showing no .223 wounds - what? No autopsy results? CIA nominee changing the talking points?
@mlester101- It's very much like the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes," except that the person who says "Hey, he's naked!" is stoned to death by the angry, sycophantic mob.
@Grumpy Curmudgeon- I know that the more enlightened view of American History for the past generation or so has avoided focusing on "Dweems" - the so-called Dead White Males. You know, the slaveowners who oppressed everyone.
By the way, don't be dispirited by our low voter turnout rate. We make up for it by having many Democrats who vote multiple times!
@Colby- We beggars can't be choosers; if Woodward does the right thing for the wrong reason, more power to him.
As far as Andrew Breitbart goes, I'm glad he remains such a powerful inspiration, but there hasn't been anyone who comes remotely close to filling his shoes.
In my heart, I wish I was 100% sure that he died of natural causes.
@Grumpy Curmudgeon- Barry is a juggler, so he's no doubt creating all this brouhaha in part to cloud other issues, as well as to try to divide the GOP and (bonus!) punish the American people.
For the record, Mr. Breitbart died when his heart failed. He had a weak one, and he lived, worked, and partied hard. I'm not saying it's his fault, I'm not blaming him - he lived as he liked. But Obama didn't kill him.
@The Jimmy Z Show- I'm not asserting that Breitbart was murdered, but I am saying that the possibility - if even remote - haunts me. There are ways to induce heart attacks, which would be the preferred approach when dealing with a high profile individual with a known heart condition.
Again, I'm not trying to be a conspiracy monger. I'm just saying that I hold this president and his administration in such low regard that I don't find "the unthinkable" so unthinkable anymore.
@Pete: Yes. My apologies to Mr Anthony. The heat of the moment, the early hour, and George Bush are all to blame for that and all the grammatical errors in that rant.
@Earl: you get the daily Coffee Through The Snoot Shoot Award for today. "Weapons-grade stupidity!". Gotta love it!
But Obama didn't kill him. And The Jimmy Z Show oughta know, right? Because... because... Um, why do you think you are personally qualified to that statement? Truth is that we can never be sure, can we?
Gosh, has it been a year? My, how time flies when you're have fun. [/sarc] I too am remembering our dear fellow patriot Andrew Breitbart today. I pray that his family is healing and they know how much we appreciate them. They sacrificed too for what's good and proper. I am heartened to see that so many equally good people, like they ones who post here and you Stilton, have stepped into Andrew's shoes and are keeping up the fight for what is right. You all are appreciated too.
About the reporters who are no longer reporting: I believe that most of them WANT to be deceived. The Left is a religion unto itself. They enjoy the bells & smells of pretending to care. The ship is sinking and most of them will just go down with the ship. Those who survive will be those that can float.
You will be forever missed Mr. Breitbart.
Why would ANYONE stay and listen to a 30 minute barrage of arrogant BS?
I would have walked out the minute the commie slug raised his voice to me.
@Grumpy, I agree with you regarding the paucity of pre-recon History being taught. I live between Princeton University and The COllege of NJ and I get to talk to a lot of the students there.....I start every conversation about our History with the phrase....."Tell me NOTHING you read in any Howard Zinn book.."
My daughter is in 2nd grade. Her school has taught her more about MLK than Washington. I have talked to her fellow pupils and am amazed at the ignorance of the broad aspects of our Country's founding.
I would give them a pass because it IS 2nd grade, but for God's sake we live on; and the school is right off of...Washington Crossing Road.
I've taken to combing yard sales and 2nd hand book stores for pre-1965 school books in her range.
I'd be Breitbart, but I lack his restraint and reserve.
@Stilton, I am sorry to say but I have to disagree with you regarding the Woodward 'threat'. I have grown un looking onto the very heart of evil.........Dad's side was the lovely mix of State level Democratic politics and the NJ Trash Hauling industry. The softer the sound(of the voice making the threat), the sweeter the smile the more you have to worry about.
And these guys were unable to unleash the IRS, DHS, CIA, FBI, EPA, DMV......well, you get the idea. I would like to think that Woodward finally had his fill of it. Especially near the end of one's time on Earth, one gets 'religion'. This may be his 'come to Jesus' moment, realizing that he and his created a monster that actually HAS the power to destroy the world.
Let's face it, if Barry does pushes us past the point of no return, There will be no real 'safe' place. I laugh at the people who keep saying they'll go to Costa Rica......yes, corridor countries NEVER have problems.....
OY!!
Now, I will follow Emmentaler's advice from yesterday and go have a cuppa coffee!!!!
Decaf, fear not;)
@Irene Peduto, Forgive me for not trying to re-arrange a get together, once again the plate is full.
Mea Culpa.......
@Emmentaler- In defense of Jimmy Z (whose podcasts are great), it isn't really helpful for conservatives to get too deep in the weeds with conspiracy talk that is A) unlikely and B) can never be proved. It makes it too easy for the other side to stereotype us as tinfoil hat types.
That being said, here in the confines of the comments section, I couldn't help but express the scintilla of doubt which lingers about Breitbart's death.
@Sparky Hudson- It is encouraging to see how many people are still inspired by Breitbart and working to continue his legacy.
And regarding the reporters who don't "report," ironically many of them were inspired by Bob Woodward's Watergate reporting which changed events rather than just reporting on them. He (and his partner, Carl Bernstein) became the new models for activist journalism which intended to affect change. Unfortunately, that's been corrupted into reporting only what the "journalists" think should be reported to achieve their ends, whether it's truthful or not. The MSM believe Obama to be a god because they believe themselves to be godmakers.
@gogaitedgo- I think almost all of us would have walked away from the BS, but Andrew Breitbart stood in the brunt of the storm - and laughed at it. And the Left hates to be laughed at.
@Queso Grande- Somewhere in my bookcases, I've got a school primer from about 100 years ago - and I was utterly astounded to page through it and realize that the average high school graduate of today couldn't have made a dent in the content. Granted the history section wasn't entirely up to date, but we could otherwise use that same book today to raise a better generation of students.
Regarding Woodward and the threat, I'd almost have to hear an actual recording to know how it was intended. If such a recording exists (and knowing Woodward, it probably does) it might explain the highly civil email Woodward received afterwards.
I have no doubt - none - that this administration would use the combined resources of the agencies you name to destroy a person - or at least make their life enough of a living hell to keep them too busy to continue speaking out.
As far as fleeing the country come the political endtimes, I could never go to Costa Rica because I don't like poisonous snakes. Which is why I've written this blog about one for over four years.
Interesting article by Bruce Walker in AmericanThinker today.. with my comments interspersed...
"Creeping totalitarianism is silently supplanting normal human thoughts and beliefs with an omnipresent and soul-destroying moral pathology."
The 'nose of the camel' thing, right before our eyes.
He continues...
"History repeats itself. The state in Soviet Russia, Fascist Italy, or Nazi Germany was pitiful: the party, not the state, wielded power. Mussolini, the first totalitarian, is often believed to have promoted the worship of the state."
Does not O want us all to worship the state (the govt) by increasing dependence on the same?
"We have no "government" in America at all any longer; we have a regime of intimidation whose real masters do not hold public offices. We have those who control information, entertainment, education, and social popularity -- the shadowy inventors of "politically correct" language, emotions, and reality which pull us with ten thousand different strings into perverse puppetry made to mimic true life."
Sounds like the good ol MSM to me. Haven't they been telling us what to think for awhile now? Hollywood is their bff.
"We cannot defeat them by elections; we can defeat them only by removing their power to dictate the films, music, art, manners, schools, charities, colleges, and causes which create an artificial union of Americans."
In other words, the things that ‘unite’ us as Americans has shifted from wholesome, truthful, patriotic ideas to those that actually divide us as a nation! Until the people of this country can understand that, we will continue down the road to totalilitarianism…’socialism’ is a weak term. Are we not very divided at present? This is a case of where“united we stand” should not apply…true Americans should willfully separate themselves from these lies being fed to us, which has been going on for a long time. We will stand united after we make the decision to eschew the current b.s. coming at us and our families. Mr. Walker sums it up...and to me, this would be the hard part….
"That is half the battle. The other half is to do what ultra-Conservative Jews, Mormons, and other smaller groups have done: create a cultural, educational, entertainment, information, and social system which encompass our values. When those two campaigns begin, and not before then, will we begin to fight the real enemy and to win the war which must be won."
Food fer thought.
@PRY- Great post and I agree with all the sentiments therein. That being said, I focus on the entirely accurate statement "we can defeat them only by removing their power to dictate the films, music, art, manners, schools, charities, colleges, and causes which create an artificial union of Americans" and wonder how we can "remove their power" without also sacrificing the Constitutional right of freedom of expression?
I don't think we (Conservatives) can create an alternate, insular community which can overcome or change the mainstream. We can only coexist - but that won't save us if the nation sinks under the weight of lies, greed, and idiocy.
We need a culture war. And how to mount and win such a war occupies my thoughts day and night.
I appreciate the comments, Stilt...and I still feel that there must be some kinda disastrous event that rocks this entire nation before we as a people come together; something much bigger than our petty beliefs about things. I only hope it won't be too late. I am still sorta optimistic about the future, but being a realist about things usually, it does cause some distress when I think of all the young people who may never know the freedoms you and I have. I appeal to God daily to forgive anything we have done wrong as a nation and protect and restore it. I know He is ready to do that.
The US is still the best place on earth!
I AM BREITBART!! #WAR
"Frankly, I'm afraid that younger Americans have been dumbed down and their attention span has become so limited that they're incapable of storing information or using it to analyse events. "History" is what they're told it is, and it can change from second to second." - Stilton Jarlsberg
And just think, they didn't even need Big Brother or a Ministry of Truth to do it either!
@badlarry- And sadly, they'd have no idea what you're even referring to.
Oh, a fatass pig keeled over from a heart attack after yelling himself blue about his racist hallucinations. Could he have died naturally? Nah, must be CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!! MURDER!!!!!
@Ted- Isn't a "Brist" the Hebrew circumsision ceremony?
@Stilton Jarlsburg: Yeah, thanks prick, I totally didn't have to hear that every fucking day at school.
@Ted Brist- Maybe that's because, just guessing, your little schoolchums found you to be something of an annoying dick? Say, the sort of person who would refer to a dead hero as a "fatass pig" while visiting a nice, quiet, conservative blog.
I see you've made another post or two on the latest commentary - see you there!
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