From Buckley to Breitbart?
Scott at Powerline thinks that Andrew Breitbart is the new William Buckley for the conservative movement.
I wish. I agree that both men demonstrate[d] a good sense of theater, but I stand by my comparison yesterday of Breitbart to Yippies Hoffman and Rubin. Buckley’s most salient characteristic, apart from wit, was an extraordinary intellect and a rapier-sharp ability to express it in either spoken or written words. Breitbart’s a smart man, but he’s no Buckley in that regard—few are.
I agree!
Me too. Buckley could tackle them on their own turf.
Mark Steyn has held this title for ages.
And Mark Steyn can run rings around most people when it comes to Broadway musicals.
Also, his wit is superb.
Hoffman is not a good comparison. I don’t think Andrew would be dumb enough to jump on stage with Pete Townsend and try to make a political speech in the middle of a set from The Who.
I believe that as a society we have become so polarized that we are in effect in a politically ideological cold war. Left vs. Right…and in any war strategies/weapons are tested/adopted that may be more effective in achieving the objectives.
I believe the Left has long realized we are at war and hence have developed more sophisticated methods of engagement, and in the early years were very willing to go hot with the various radical groups.
Whereas the Right has long thought of the left-leaning opposition as merely politically different.
Briebart seems to have come to the realization that the rhetoric is again heating up, and is just filling a niche on the Right.
What I always wonder about is how much bad blood can exist before the situation gets really out of hand.
It has finally struck me who Andrews counterpart would be. Lenny Bruce! Why? His artful use of the media to poke his finger in the eye of the establishment. He also smacks of Jerry the Mouse in the Tom and Jerry Toons of the 40’s, tying firecrackers to the tail of his torementor. It’s something the conservatives have always needed a Groucho the the Lefts’ Margaret Dumont.