Breitbart - What Do We Really Owe the Dead?

Andrew Breitbart
Photo: Joseph Kaczmarek / AP

Online publisher and blogger Andrew Breitbart collapsed and died Thursday. At just 43 years old, Breitbart's death was shocking and unexpected. As a relatively young man, he leaves behind a wife and four young children. Andrew Breitbart is dead - and tons of people appear to be pretty damned happy about it.

The blogosphere and Twitter have blown up today with people celebrating the online activist's death. There are potentially tasteless jokes, online rants describing Breitbart with every foul insult from douche to asshole to scumbag, and scores of people wishing Breitbart a long and uncomfortable trip to Hell. I am not a fan of Andrew Breitbart, but I confess, all this negativity and blowback in light of his death has led me to spend the day wondering if maybe we owe the deceased a little more respect.

If you know who Andrew Breitbart is, then you might understand the deluge of internet bile being hurled at him on the day of his death.

If you don't know who Andrew Breitbart is, then here's your crash course.

• Remember those pictures of Representative Anthony Weiner's underwear-covered bulge? The ones the congressman inadvertently Tweeted publicly? Breitbart published those pictures online.
• Remember the "racist" remarks by African-American U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod? The comments that resulted in her wrongful firing, before it was discovered that a video clip was edited to completely distort Sherrod's meaning? Breitbart edited and published that video clip online.  
• Remember the 2009 scandal that brought down the liberal ACORN organization? The homemade "sting" that used paid actors and hidden cameras to capture low-level ACORN representatives appearing to promote illegal activities? Breitbart coordinated and promoted the effort.

But really, is that track record enough to justify such absolute disregard for a deceased man and such callousness toward his innocent family?

Clearly, Breitbart enjoyed his role as a conservative agitator who loved to stir up trouble for his political enemies, but there's more than that behind the mass public disdain for the online firebrand.

Are Cities Euthanizing the Occupy Movement?

Tear down of the Occupy Oakland encampment. (Photo: Reuters)

Cities around the nation, including some of the most liberal locales, are shutting down overnight Occupy Movement encampments. Local police officials in Portland, Seattle, Oakland, and other cities have raided downtown Occupy camps, torn down tents, and collectively arrested hundreds of resistant protesters.

In New York City, at the very heart of the Occupy Movement, Mayor Bloomberg ordered the dismantling of the original Occupy Wall Street camp located in Zuccotti Park, and a judge has ruled that protesters may return to the park, but that their constitutional rights to assemble and speak freely do not extend to bringing tents, blankets, and sleeping bags in order to live in the public space around the clock.

With the Department of Homeland Security providing strategic support for these coordinated efforts at shutting down Occupy camps, many strong First Amendment advocates have leapt to the conclusion that the federal government has now conspired with city officials to squelch the civil rights of the economic injustice protesters. In the wake of increasing issues with crime (including a murder in Oakland, for example) and sanitation around the camps, I view the actions of city officials against the camps more as follow-through on their commitments to ensuring the safety and security of the public in general.

As I said in a post two weeks ago, the Occupy encampments were initially constructed on the firm ground of high-visibility protests that served to raise awareness and ire about economic injustice in America. In the absence of unified leadership though, and without the development and promotion of meaningful corollary resistance tactics, the encampments and to some extent the entire Occupy Movement are slowly hedging toward a cliff of irrelevance.

What If The Bullet Were Real?

A man filming a police line at the Occupy Oakland protest was shot by police with a rubber bullet, although he provoked no one and was given no warning.

No doubt, city officials and police forces are challenged by the Occupy Movement to strike a delicate balance between ensuring public safety and protecting the rights of all of us, but when that fine line is trod all over by a pair of jack boots, the authorities do themselves no favors.

As I watched the clip below, I wondered - what if the bullet were real? What would the unprovoked police shooting of a protester, presumably armed with only a video camera, say about the state of our democracy? Are we one poor decision away from witnessing a bizarre Tiennamen-style showdown in the U.S.?

It wasn't a real bullet this time, but with so little organization in the Occupy Movement, and with thousands of frustrated and overworked cops interacting daily with teeming hoards of tired and angry protesters, the opportunities for a tragic mistake are mounting. Keep your wits about you, America.

This is a chilling and sobering scene.

Viewing Tip: Click the title bar at the top of the clip to view in a larger window.

Making the Occupy Movement Matter

Occupy protesters in support of a noble but ambiguous goal.
Photo: Reuters

The Occupy Wall Street movement is struggling. With urban encampments popping up in dozens of cities around the country and a presidential election just twelve months away, the movement should be perfectly poised to have a significant impact on national policy. That, unfortunately, is not the case.

Instead of spurring meaningful political and economic dialogue, the two biggest elements of the movement currently garnering national interest and media attention are (1) the handful of Occupy outlaws who have inserted themselves into the Oakland arm of the movement, and (2) the movement's inability to develop overriding objectives and to broaden its base of support. 

Slate contributor (and former NY Governor) Eliot Spitzer has stepped up to offer some much-needed structural and tactical advice in the form of eight specific ideas that would advance the Occupy Movement beyond the encampments. The movement has no identified central leadership and Spitzer likely lacks the street cred (or maybe has too much government cred) to take the job, but the folks who are organizing OWS would be well-served to heed Spitzer's suggestions. The movement needs more substance.

30 Giant Companies Paid No Taxes - Should We Burn Something Down?

Like most people I am shocked and dismayed by today's report that thirty of the nation's largest companies paid no income tax for the last three years. This news is aggravating and at the same time fascinating, especially when juxtaposed against recently announced tax reform plans from Herman Cain and Rick Perry, both of whom claim our corporate tax rates are so amazingly high that they are killing job creation. 

It's hard to know what to do with the kind of anger I feel, but I'm growing more certain that the Occupy Movement, as it stands now, might not meet my needs.

Should I camp out in a public park in downtown San Francisco? 

Nah, it's rainy out, and besides, I'm not so clever with the sign-making.

Should I head over to join the protest at the port in Oakland? 

Honestly, my graffiti skills are rusty and lighting shit on fire is not my style. 

Maybe I'll just publish this ridiculous news about corporate tax rates in a snarky blog post? 

Doesn't make me seem too cool, but it seems reasonable. Just not sure it will matter....

...Then again, I'm still not sure the Occupy Movement will make much difference either.

The Fine Line of "Occupy" Protests

"Occupy" Protesters' Encampment in Oakland

I believe in the First Amendment. I believe in Free Speech. I believe in the right to assemble and protest. I believe that corporate greed has taken short-term gains that put a long-term hurt on the American economy, and on the American middle class. I believe we must do something to ensure we don't let an unchecked financial sector continue to wreck our nation. I believe an effective protest movement must make people uncomfortable and cause inconvenience.

And...

I believe state and local governments are charged with keeping the peace and ensuring public safety. I believe the Occupy movement lacks the kind of structure and leadership that might make it more palatable to cities and to the general public. I believe Occupy protesters have a mixed bag of motivations, and while many are genuinely committed to an important cause, others are simply seizing a convenient moment to be public fuck-abouts. I believe protests don't have to have unsafe and unsanitary conditions to be effective.

In light of the news that cities around the nation are losing patience and beginning to crack down on Occupy protester encampments, I find myself with surprisingly mixed emotions. Despite the fact that I fully agree with the overall message of the movement, I would not likely choose to participate in the style of protests I see portrayed in cities around the country. I want to participate but I'm not sure how. I think if this movement is going to have a worthwhile impact, then it is incumbent on the Occupy "leaders" to find a way to inspire more ordinary middle class people to join them, and the movement must develop meaningful ways for those of us who are not able or willing to camp in public spaces to contribute.

What about you?