An Army of Andrew Breitbarts

"She just paints whoever inspires her," twittered Mandy Nagy — aka Liberty Chick — last summer, referring to her mother's expressionistic portrait of Andrew Breitbart (detail above). "This is my war cry for 2012. You need to join me in my war against the institutional left. This is not your mother's Democratic party. Duh!" the social-media provocateur extraordinaire told a CPAC12 audience recently.

"We've lost our Samuel Adams," twittered Mark Tapscott midmorning. "Thoughtful, passionate, complicated. Actually challenged liberals to be better at arguing for what we believe in" said liberal FoxNews contributor Sally Kohn. "Back to blogging!" admonished comrade-in-arms Susie, aka Stoutcat, adding her tears to the torrent of heartbreak, fond memories and renewed resolve that drowned out all else in our twitterstream and on Fox as word emerged, disbelieving tweet by tweet, of Andrew Breitbart's untimely death at age 43 from natural causes. Susie's hashtag, a play on Glenn Reynolds's Army of Davids, resonates:

An Army of Andrews [#armyofandrews]

Like the conspiratorial "dog whistle" of our statist adversaries' nightmares, Breitbart's passing was a call-to-arms for the freedom fighters to ratchet up our defense of the Shining City. "In his honor, I'll fight harder," vowed Lori Ziganto, aka Snark and Boobs, and from our twitterfriend Rachelle Friberg, gratitude and sorrow:

"Thank you, Andrew Breitbart, for inspiring young blogging journalists like me. You will really be missed :(

"I am Andrew Bretbart right now, and if you are a blogger on the right, so are all of you," declared Peter of DaTechguyBlog:

On the left there are plenty of people celebrating (literally on twitter right now) but the line from Spartacus was never more true than today:  He'll be back and he'll be millions.

I know because I'm one of those millions, and if you are a blogger or radio host on the right who has gotten involved in the last few years, so are you …

He understood better than almost anyone else that it was the stories the media refused to cover, more than what they actually said, that really was the lifesblood and power of the MSM leftist bias

To your stations, bloggers, and disintermediate at will!

Update: "God bless you, Andrew. Rest in peace, friend. We will continue the fight," promises that other tireless disintermediator of the powers that be, Sarah Palin:

For me, just one of those memories was in Pella, Iowa, last year after the premiere of “The Undefeated.” Andrew held court in the restaurant at the local hotel talking about his favorite topic: how “culture is upstream of politics” and how conservatives must be unafraid to fight the leftwing media, cultural, and political establishments. The loss of his voice in this fight will be deeply felt, but thankfully his work lives on at his “Bigs,” and thank God for his inspiration and leadership.

Update II: Professor Reynolds links. Be sure to check out related links, including this from that other professor, at Legal Insurrection:

I've often wondered where to go with this blog. I now know.

Crossposted at Riehl World View.

Comments

[JoanOfArgghh]

Beautiful, Sissy!

I think every one of us thought/felt exactly the same after we caught our gasping breath to take in the enormous loss.

To arms!

[chickelit]

RIP Andrew Breitbart

Sissy, you're my favorite Breitbart soldier on twitter.

[pam]

Huge loss. Just didn't want to believe it this morning.

[Stoutcat]

Thanks Sissy. I'm still trying to get my head around all of this.

I felt the same way when Dean Barnett (SoxBlogger) and Cathy Seipp (the one and only) passed. I knew none of these folks personally and yet their passings have marked me indelibly in one way or another.

But now I am determined to get back to blogging, one voice in an army of Andrews; and in the back of my mind a little voice is saying we should win 2012 for Mr. Breitbart.

You can bet I'll do my part.

[JAY]

I am one of millions of conservatives who coasted on Breitbart's coattails. I vote the right way and contribute to the right causes but I have never been a leader or a fighter like Andrew. I think it's time to man up and follow where Andrew led.

[vinny]

Beautiful painting - captures his spirit. A very sad day.

[Jason]

Great Post. God bless him, all he has done and all he has inspired. I have read and re-read Wordsworth's Character of the Happy Warrior several times today thinking about Mr. Breitbart and this line says it all:

This is the happy Warrior; this is He
That every Man in arms should wish to be.

[datechguy]

It is always hard when someone younger than you dies with so much potential, but Andrew May have died but more importantly he LIVED.

[Gayle Miller]

Kevin DuJan of HillBuzz put it best: When faced with a dilemma, think to yourself, What would Andrew Breitbart do? And then DO IT!

His family is in our prayers. And we thank God for lending him to us for a short while!

[Teresa]

I know everyone is thinking of him in terms of his leadership in the conservative cause, but I keep thinking of his wife and children. I pray they find the peace and strength to make it through such a devastating loss. *sigh* The rest of us can be resourceful enough to move on. How much harder for his family. May he rest in peace.