In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
In case you haven't picked it up already, the newest issue of National Review comes highly recommended from yours truly. I can't remember the last time that one issue of a political magazine had so many sharp pieces (not to be missed are Kevin D. Williamson's cover story on the LDS church and our own James Lileks' razor-sharp riff on people who are too good for Olive Garden). But what really struck me was our esteemed Rob Long's remembrance of Andrew Breitbart, "The Interrupted Narrator."
I know, I know. You've been saturated with Breitbart tributes over the past few weeks and you probably think you've heard it all. But the passage that jumped out at this Southern Californian wasn't even about Andrew per se as much as the style he embodied:
[Breitbart] did it all from his beloved Los Angeles, driving his kids to school and back, listening to his favorite 1980s pop music, nine conversations going at once. He was a true son of the West Coast -- apart from the East Coast, establishment way of doing business. On the East Coast, you try to control what's printed in the newspaper. On the West Coast, you figure out a way to put the newspaper out of business. On the East Coast, you try to shape news coverage of a certain story. On the West Coast, you become the story itself. On the East Coast, you wear a coat and tie. On the West Coast, you shamble around, as Andrew often did, in shorts and a misbuttoned shirt. On the East Coast, this looks like work. On the West Coast, it looks like fun.
This passage of brilliant observational anthropology can only be so concise by being so thoroughly correct. Perhaps I was too thoroughly marinated in the culture of my native Southern California to process Washington with anything approaching objectivity during my years there, but my big takeaway from our nation's capital was this: it's a dreary place. Not physically, so much; it would take a pretty hard heart not to be moved by Washington's stately architectural grandiosity. But, especially for a conservative, there's something suffocating about an atmosphere where politics is the be all and end all of everyone's life. After a while, you want to break up hour three of Beltway talk at McCormick & Schmick's by asking, "Doesn't anyone here ever go to a ball game? Or a movie?"
Breitbart was representative of what I consider a fundamentally healthy development in the conservative movement: a recognition that it's no more advisable to centralize our intellectual and activist leadership in Washington than it is to centralize political power there. Washington is a company town and it suffers from all of the pathologies associated with that status: insularity, myopia, and a blinkered reverence for conventional wisdom.
Of course, certain caveats apply. We need those front-line troops in Washington, just not to the exclusion of voices elsewhere in the country. And there's a point beyond which the intellectual restlessness of the West Coast becomes a pronounced liability (there may be no bigger problem in California's decaying political system than the fact that the average Golden State voter can't be bothered to pay attention to it).
Still, there's a virtue to prominent conservatives who spend their days surrounded by the rhythms of ordinary life, within the reach of more individuals who are shaped by federal legislation than individuals who are shaping it. Whether it's Andrew Breitbart on the Westside of Los Angeles or Mark Steyn in the woods of New Hampshire, some of our brightest lights have already shown the virtues of this kind of variety. My hope is that the trend continues unabated. I can't go back to McCormick & Schmick's.
- Comment (8)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (5)
Comments:
May '10
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
It's not a trend. It has always been so for conservatives. Most of us just have no need to bloviate. But we need some to do so in order that the principles by which the rest of us live our lives, might be aired for the benefit of the liberals who've not yet seen the light.
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
"Perhaps I was too thoroughly marinated in the culture of my native Southern California to process Washington with anything approaching objectivity during my years there, but my big takeaway from our nation's capital was this: it's a dreary place. [T]here's something suffocating about an atmosphere where politics is the be all and end all of everyone's life. After a while, you want to break up hour three of Beltway talk at McCormick & Schmick's by asking, "Doesn't anyone here ever go to a ball game?"
Beautifully, beautifully put. And, although I preceded you there by a generation, I ended my time in Washington feeling just the same way.
California--the still-golden state--is so very worth fighting for.
But that's another post.
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
Troy, I couldn't agree more. I loved the history of DC, but not the Official portions. Stirring as they were in the abstract, they felt remote, inert. The history of the city itself was interesting, but the developers were intent on razing as much as possible for office buildings to house the imperial functionaries.
The transient nature of the population, and the tendency for the smart set to live out in the burbs, meant that few knew the physical history of the city, why things looked as they did, what was here before that was built - all the things that help citizens inhabit a place, not just pass through it on.
(and thanks for the kudos.)
Feb '12
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
I sent that on to my husband. He's a dyed-in-the-wool west coaster, the type that complains endlessly when he has to go back east.
He also hates that I call it "back east," since we were both born here.
I do find that ideological conformity is enforced back east, and less so out west. I think that's because politics is by and large considered a niche interest, like soccer or flower gardening.
Jul '11
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
I love Olive Garden. I just wish they had a better wine selection. That's all I am saying....
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
I'm not crazy about the Olive Garden. The pasta is too mushy for me. But the phrase "unlimited breadsticks" is right up there for me.
Thanks, Troy.
Aug '10
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
Gawd, could you be any more of a one-percenter! ;-)
Aug '10
Re: In Praise of Rob Long, Andrew Breitbart, and the West Coast
I think it's a symptom of "planned" capital cities. I'm sure that places like Canberra and Brasilia suffer from the same sort of cultures, while capital cities that grew a little more "organically" (Ottawa, London, etc) have more going for them than just politics.
I think it also depends a little on whether one grew up there or if one is only there for a government or political job. I find that most lifelong Ottawa residents tend to avoid politics like the plague.
Edited on March 29, 2012 at 7:39pm