In response to this recent confrontation at Netroots Nation, Andrew Breitbart directed his staff to publicly ask me for an apology. My first reaction was, "Yeah, that'll happen when hell freezes over." Then I thought about it, and I am sorry, just not in the way he expects.
I'm sorry that we have charlatans who pretend to be journalists like Andrew Breitbart, who abuse our interest in public affairs for personal gain. While he profits off of the destruction of other people's lives, our political conversation in America is polluted, corrupted, and cheapened.
I'm sorry that the newsmedia has amplified and given credence in our public discourse to a voice like Andrew Breitbart, which will only have deleterious effects. When a Breitbart storyline is disseminated, you can be sure that someone's life will never be the same and never for the better. This is not journalism; it is political hatchet jobs dressed up to look like breaking news by a few pretty websites.
I'm sorry that Andrew Breitbart felt it necessary to confront author Max Blumenthal on video and call him "a despicable human" while saying "you're the lowest life-form I've ever seen", "you're entire job is trying to destroy people", & "you're fighting your father's battles... you've been programmed by some ungodly creature to be this character of hatred". In light of these statements, I'm sorry that I didn't go farther when I confronted Breitbart, who obviously has no limits to his indecency.
I'm sorry that Shirley Sherrod's public career in the Department of Agriculture was sacrificed upon the altar of headline-seeking slander and libel. Promoting selectively edited video and smearing the name of a decent, hard-working civic servant is a dastardly act that Breitbart is currently answering for in the court of law. In practicing his particularly vicious form of yellow journalism, it is only to be expected that more and more courageous individuals will step forward to sue him for his baseless accusations and reckless disregard for the truth.
I'm sorry that Juan Carlos Vera of ACORN, who was secretly videotaped by Breitbart accomplice James O'Keefe, lost his job for 'assisting a pimp' when he actually called the police immediately after O'Keefe left his office. That unhelpful bit of information did not make the video nor did it come to light in Breitbart's public account of the incident, because those facts would hamper his crusade to dismantle an organization that was operating in the public interest. The truth must be so inconvenient to the Breitbarts of the world.
I'm really sorry that Breitbart taught people like James O'Keefe that what he's doing is morally justifiable, because in doing so, he created a media monster and a kid who will inevitably need to spend overtime in a confessional someday. The pangs of conscience visit even the most coarsened souls, as one can see in the case of Lee Atwater who begged forgiveness from all those who suffered through a lifetime of his ruthlessness. I'd encourage you to read about it, Jimmy.
I'm sorry that Andrew Breitbart never learned as a child that hurting other people is morally wrong and that personal success can never be built upon the destruction of other people's lives. I hope that his children are learning the difference between right and wrong from their mother, for their father's example will surely prove the point that what is moral is expedient on a long enough timeline. It will forever be true that you reap what you sow, Andy, so be careful what you sow.
As far as the confrontation at Netroots, I am unapologetically proud for giving Breitbart a taste of his own medicine. It needs to happen more often.
Sorry if that's not what you were expecting, Andy. My apologies.
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