Breitbart: A racist sociopath

[BurtWorm]

From Steve Benen at Political Animal:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_07/024831.php

BREITBART'S VERSION OF REGRET.... There's been some talk about whether Andrew Breitbart would get around to apologizing for the Shirley Sherrod fiasco. It's even been a topic for conservatives -- Jonah Goldberg thinks Breitbart should apologize; David Frum predicts he won't.

We got a better sense of Breitbart's perspective today when the right-wing media activist told MSNBC, "I feel bad that they made this about her, and I feel sorry that they made this about her. Watching how they've misconstrued, how the media has misconstrued the intention behind this, I do feel a sympathy for her plight." He added that he's "sympathetic" to the fact that the media "went after her and not after the NAACP."

So, in Breitbart's mind, the media is to blame -- apparently because news outlets ran with the story that Breitbart gave them.

David Kurtz calls the remarks "almost sociopathic." Simon Maloy labels Breitbart's response "pathological."

These aren't unreasonable responses. Breitbart pushed a deliberately misleading video that went after Shirley Sherrod for no reason. He proceeded to label her a "racist" who "racially discriminates against a white farmer," and demanded that the NAACP "denounce the racism in the video." That, of course, would be the racism that didn't exist when listening to the remarks in context.

Breitbart's racially-motivated media stunt cost Sherrod her job, at least for now. But he regrets that "they went after her"? That he said this with a straight face is disconcerting.
—Steve Benen 2:55 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (25)

[gratuitous]

1. Is that a nice thing to say about the President?

Yeah, I thought we elected Barack Obama too; but apparently Executive Branch personnel decisions are in the hands of Andrew Breitbart, so that's who we should defer to as the President. So, calling him a racist sociopath, even with sterling evidence to back it up, isn't an appropriate way to refer to the President. If we didn't call George W. Bush what he was, we shouldn't do it to President Breitbart either.

[EOTE]

7. There can be more than one person to blame.

I think that the Obama administration needs to own this fiasco and learn a big lesson from it. I also think that Breitbart is a sociopathic racist. Those two thoughts can exist simultaneously in one mind.

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. Breitbart is clearly a racist pice of shit and a liar, but sadly,

in the world of right wing hate-mongering, that is considered "street cred". Ol' hillbilly heroin Rush Limbaugh couldn;t resist jumping in the mud with Breitbart when the story broke.

[lob1]

3. So Breitbart thinks the media is stupid to believe the

story he gave them. In this one case, I agree with him. Anyone would have to be crazy to believe him.

[Bitwit1234]

4. He says he didn't edit the tape

that someone sent it to him already edited. Now if you were a real news person and someone sent you a tape wouldn't you check it out first before you reported it as true. He is a lying. S.O.B. and if the FCC doesn't look into the things Fox is doing they are just as guilty as the person doing it.

[avaistheone1]

6. True....

if he were a real journalist interested in the truth he would have done so.

[jah the baptist]

5. yes

yes he is

and so is his little cirus clown in the pimp suit

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Personal destruction via slanderous lies

is not a one person event. It takes the liar, and those who continue to listen to those lies. It takes listeners who are prone to buy into lies, assume the worst about allies, and trust the word of proven mendacious backbiters.
If this was the first time, that would be one thing. That would be mere stupidity. Repeated falling for the same ploy suggests more, in degree or in nature.

[bobbolink]

9. "It takes the liar, and those who continue to listen to those lies." Exactly!

:applause:

This deserves one huge White House gates protest!

It is time for accountability.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. This is McCarthy stuff all over again

I wish I had time to write more! Best to you, B.

[Oceansaway]

11. K&R...n/t

[Champion Jack]

12. I sure hope the IRS doesn't audit Breitbart

or the secret service doesn't take him to an undisclosed location for a 72 hour waterboard-a-thon.
Nope, That just wouldn't be right

[tom_paine]

13. Sadly, it's a good time to be a sociopath in America. Maybe the best ever.

Bad news for the other 90-95% of us.

The RW has gathered a majority, if not most, of the sociopaths in our nation under their wing. Remember when each party had it's share of them?

No more. In fact, one might argue that our entire National Dialog has been "socipathized", given the way it routinely echoes the RW Lie Machine, often fused as one, no matter how often the RW Lie has been objectively debunked.

This is, in many ways, such a very dangerous time. Given the trials and tribulations of history, it is tough to jump ahead and say this is the most dangerous time in American history. We are not in physical danger of being defeated and having to surrender, like WWII. We are not in danger (yet) of tearing the nation asunder in a bloodbath, as in the Civil War.

But the trends are ominous, they are not slowing down even under Obama, and they point like a neon arrow to something truly authoritarian/totalitarian coming up the pike.