Andrew
Breitbart died on Thursday, March 1, 2012.
Two
of the many problems with FaceBook are: (1) Typing
takes more effort than talking, especially if typing into a cellphone. This means that it is tempting to substitute a
3 word response for a 200 word response.
If your 200 words were going to express disagreement, then the three
words might well be “You’re an idiot!” and (2) by nature, most people are more
apt to express agreement than disagreement.
This also relates to the problem of typing – disagreement is more likely
to draw a reaction that demands further response.
But
preaching to the choir is not going to change anyone’s mind. To make a real difference, one must engage
those with whom one disagrees.
Andrew
knew this. A “happy warrior”, he engaged
his greatest adversaries at close range.
At the Madison, Wisconsin statehouse where public-sector unions were
demonstrating in protest to the Governor’s defense of Wisconsin taxpayers,
Andrew walked right up to them.
“How
many of you are members of the SEIU? How
many? You? Are you a member of the SEIU? Who was sent here by the SEIU?”
The
whole crowd (!) started to move away from him.
He followed (!) them.
“Is
he from the SEIU? He is ORGANIZING
you. You are not individuals. He has made you a mindless mob! Is he an SEIU steward? Is he your union boss?”
One
motivated, sincere risk-taker outweighs a hundred lemmings led by a
coward. Andrew brought an end to ACORN
and to Anthony Weiner. He had courage,
brains and humor. He was magnificent,
but he died at 43 leaving a wife, four children and a dozen web initiatives.
53:30
into the 1970 movie Patton, the General eulogizes a favorite aide: “I shall miss him a lot. I can’t see the reason such fine young men get
killed. There are so many battles yet to
fight.”
And
so, on the day Andrew died and in his memory, I picked a fight in FaceBook that lasted into the next day. Dave Gier posted a
comment on his wall. Patriot Guard
people were on one side of the matter, and a few of Dave’s daughter’s friends,
college students, were on the other side.
No one knew anyone from the opposite side. We had only Dave in common.
One
of the young relations invited me to be his friend which allowed me to further
engage him on his wall for a third day.
He must have some Andrew in his blood.