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What’s Happening at Breitbart.com?
It may be presumptuous and even unfair of me to liken the behavior of a media outlet to a mental disorder, but unfortunately, monitoring Breitbart.com lately has been like watching a very disturbed person. Sometimes sober. Sometimes unhinged. Sometimes giddy. Sometimes juvenile and petty. Sometimes in full rage.
It won’t take but a few minutes of glancing at some of the sillier headlines and reading what passes for serious political commentary, or perusing some of the more extreme responses on Breitbart.com to anyone that dare challenge the wisdom of Donald Trump, to realize that we are no longer in Kansas. And no, Ray Kinsella, we aren’t even in Iowa, hearing voices in cornfields. It’s closer to say that we’ve passed through Alice’s looking glass to a place where the absurd characters are darker and more threatening than even Lewis Carroll could have imagined.
Am I saying that some (not all) of Trump’s supporters are so ridiculously angry that they’ll say anything inflammatory, defamatory, and outrageous behind the convenient veil of online pseudonyms? Yes, I am. Am I saying that certain political commentators have become besotted with Mr. Trump to the point of drooling, blithering idiocy, checking whatever critical thinking parts of their brains at the door? Well, yes. I’m saying that, too.
A few days ago, Megyn Kelly announced she was taking a ten-day vacation in, of all times, August. Aha! Who in the world takes a vacation in August? Breitbart.com noted that Salon.com had called the timing of Ms. Kelly’s vacation suspect. Unfortunately, the Breitbart headline, FOX NEWS’ MEGYN KELLY ANNOUNCES 10-DAY VACATION, didn’t suggest that Salon.com’s speculation was a bit over the top. Instead, it had the unintended consequence of reinforcing Trump fans with a penchant for conspiracy theory who felt Salon was on to something.
But this one, FOX SHOCK: NETWORK CALLS MEGYN KELLY ‘TALENT,’ NOT ‘JOURNALIST,’ Breitbart.com owns. Never mind that anyone who hosts a show and appears before a TV camera in the broadcast industry is referred to as “the talent.” No, it’s clear that even Fox knows that Kelly is anything but a journalist. I mean, like d’uh! I need to lie down. Or perhaps the folks at Breitbart need to lie down.
The previous two items were thought newsworthy enough for Breitbart’s editors to feature on their site. Once posted, they generated the expected response: rabid demonization of Kelly, Roger Ailes, and FoxNews in general from Breitbart’s more excitable readership – some Trump loyalists even making kind reference to Ms. Kelly’s hygiene, thus helping to complete Mr. Trump’s original thought. Whatever … wherever.
Referring to Mr. Trump’s supporters as “low information” will light up Breitbart.com’s phone lines, and they’ll report on that, too. Criticize Breitbart.com as skewing its coverage to promote Trump and you, too, may be featured prominently on the site, as Republican media consultant Rick Wilson found out when he incurred the wrath of Breitbart’s John Nolte:
To anyone not blinded by their own snobbery, Trump’s appeal to this group, even if it is on the single issue of locking America’s back border door at night, is painfully obvious.
But what is the response from the Republican Establishment to these voters? We saw a perfect example of it Friday night on CNN.
Like an embittered Gollum-In-Glasses protecting “My Precious” Jeb, Rick Wilson, a top Republican media consultant, appeared on CNN last night to hurl criticism mixed with a lot of faux-macho ad-hominem at Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Which is fine. Wilson is even correct on a couple points.
Then he dropped his pants.
One thing to keep in mind when you read Wilson’s quote from last night below is that Republican candidates actually hire this guy to help them win elections — which I think explains a lot. [emphasis added]:
“You do not benefit by trying to draft behind Donald Trump and hope that he collapses and his low-information supporters run into your arms. This is a guy who is increasingly leading a fraction of the conservative base into a very dangerous cul-de-sac. He is promising things that he can never deliver. And it is time for Jeb Bush and other folks to start posting up and really comparing and contrasting Donald Trump’s rhetoric with the reality.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t bolster a Breitbart journalist’s credibility to complain about his subject’s ad hominem attacks when he engages in similar, but even more juvenile, ad hominem attacks. “Then he dropped his pants.” Oh, well done, Mr. Nolte. Note that Wilson spent a good portion of his time in the CNN interview characterizing Donald Trump’s scattershot pronouncements, not “trashing” Trump supporters, as the Breitbart headline – WHY WE LOSE: TOP GOP CONSULTANT RICK WILSON TRASHES REPUBLICAN BASE – might lead its readership to believe.
Hint to Breitbart’s editorial staff: Try to be thick-skinned enough to take criticism about your reporting and the quality of your work, and remember:
- The stories this campaign season are about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the rest of the candidates in the field, not about the way a relatively obscure political consultant may have taken issue with Breitbart’s fawning coverage of Mr. Trump.
- Don’t let your site become the story.
- Don’t fixate on your critics.
- Watch some Monty Python from time to time, and quit taking yourselves so damn seriously.
- If your extreme behavior continues, consult a psychiatrist. Valium or other medications may be necessary (even if Tom Cruise disapproves).
Note to Ricochet’s editorial staff: Promoting this post to the Ricochet Main Feed may result in Ricochet.com being labeled a GOP Establishment hack website by one or more of the editorial staff of Breitbart.com. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
I have called you insane any number of times Dime ;)
Ya know I really like Twitter in a lot of ways but trying to persuade someone in 140 characters is laughable when it usually can’t be done in 1,400.
Coming from Concretevol this is a compliment. I would hate for him to like me. I mean he is from Tennessee, right? (hyper hyper hyper serious smiley)
What is wrong with laughter, ConCon?
My frustration is that this all so insane….to be tearing at each other’s throats over Donald Freaking Trump, who until 2 seconds ago was by no one’s definition a conservative. Especially while we have a field so much superior to last cycle’s. It just isn’t worth it.
Laughter is for Yuuuuuge Looooosers
As I get older, I believe more and more than politics is inherently corrupting. The desire to acquire power, to hold power and to keep power out of the hands of dangerous people makes people do things they would never ordinarily do. But more than doing awful things because they are sometimes necessary, people come to like the license they feel that politics lets them have to be awful.
So, the Valium/medication comment was obvious jest directed to the publication as a whole not an individual. Therefore, it in no way violates the CoC. On a more clinical or medical level, the word “insanity” is a legal not a medical term. Here is my reference in the very first sentence:
“It may be presumptuous and even unfair of me to liken the behavior of a media outlet to a mental disorder, but unfortunately, monitoring Breitbart.com lately has been like watching a very disturbed person.”
Please note especially the first nine words of that sentence.
Re: The comments section of Breitbart.com’s site: I have not characterized specific individual site commenters as representative of the Breitbart readership in general. I have only brought light to some of the more extreme comments. Do you honestly believe that the reason anti-semitic and other more defamatory comments aren’t being purged is that Breitbart.com as a business can’t afford to edit them? Really?
I believe that the Breitbart.com site showed some real promise when Andrew Breitbart was alive. Over time, and in fact more recently I think its reputation as a thoughtful and well-written site is being tarnished especially when editors engage in non-critical promotion of any one candidate, pandering, demonization and ad hominem attacks of other candidates, commentators, or critics. I don’t think I’m the only one who has noticed a decline in their standards.
We are Republicans. We use up all our ammunition in the primary process. See if we call each others stupid later everyone will know how smart we are in the general election.
Brian and all,
I don’t quite know how the fist fight between Rick Wilson & J-Pod v John Nolte at Breitbart broke out and I don’t think I want to. This is incredibly unfortunate for Conservatism. Breitbart is a very solid site. Much more interested in following stories properly than Fox. Yes sometimes they are a little over the top but really not that much and not that often. J-Pod & Rick Wilson are very valuable voices on the Conservative scene.
This incident is totally ridiculous and should never have happened. I think all parties should consider what took place and make an attempt not to let it happen again. Save your articles, comments, & tweets for attacking the left wing. The left wing presents us with targets of opportunity on a daily basis. There was no need of this.
Regards,
Jim
Brian,
I agree with most of what you said. I just wish it would have been dialed down a notch.
Breitbart.com comments run into the thousands so I do think it would take time to go through them. It would probably a full time position at least to edit them.
I am bothered by this Trump thing because everyone is fanning the flames.
The Dime is the voice of reason? We’re through the looking glass here people!
Prepare for the Apocalypse!
I, too, have noticed that Breitbart’s daily headlines which I generally peruse a couple of times a day have become tabloidal. I also peruse The Blaze and have long since given up thinking of it as anything but cheap tabloid.
A thought that occurred to me reading through the comments on this post is that Trump may well be accomplishing the goal of disrupting the Republican party and, thus, its chances of unseating the Democrats’ hold on the White House in 2016.
There was a theory briefly considered that Trump was “hired” by the Clintons to do just that. As the debate went on and all that followed it took the attention elsewhere, the disintegration of a unified party has seemed to proceed quite effectively. Even in these hallowed halls of intellectual debate I have seen real anger, though, fortunately, still civil.
If Trump is nothing else, he is a highly disruptive influence whose ultimate intentions are not really known. He has never been one who appears in anyway to really be concerned about the United States of America as much as his own ego gratification. Though the motives of the more serious candidates in the Republican list may at times be suspect, none, I think, could be considered less than patriotic. Trump, on the other hand, has always struck me as more in the vein of Obama in that regard.
Jim, I agree this whole thing is unfortunate. I don’t really agree with your analysis of Breitbart.com but that is just my opinon which as you know…everyone has one. They have really seemed to go waaaaay overboard in their Trump love and whomever they determine to be Republican establishment hate. As an example of your entire point though, when John Nolte and Ricochet’s Stephen Miller (Redsteeze) were going at each other on twitter over Trump and his supporters on several people were just pleading with them to stop. The frustration to me is how the conversation seems to always go:
“How can you guys buy what Trump is selling based on his previous positions and support for democrats etc etc???”
“STOP INSULTING THE BASE YOU ELITIST!” YOU JUST WANT JEB SO YOU CAN LOSE AGAIN.”
“Screw you I have been a long time conservative!”
“You are a cuckservative!” Block
The site was actually founded as “Big Hollywood” as Breitbart thought a discussion of culture was generally more important or “upstream” than politics.
Breitbart.com was undergoing a big redesign just as Andrew Breitbart died in the very early morning hours of March 1, 2012.
None of us know what he would think of the site today. Many previous contributors have moved on. Breitbart London, Breitbart Texas, and Breitbart California have been interesting experiments.
However, people forget just how much he was hated on the Left. Read some of those obituaries after he died.
Andrew Breitbart offered to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund “for any audio/video footage of the N-word being hurled”, and he insisted that civil right hero Congressman John Lewis lied about the incident. That sounds rather “Trumpian” to me. Who knows what he would consider the “Pigford” of its day…
From a marketing perspective, Donald Trump is a boom. He is bringing eyes and ears to our debates. You can’t buy advertising like this. We need to use it to get our message out.
Concretevol,
I am extremely concerned about the Trump situation also. However, tearing each other apart won’t solve the problem. I don’t think Trump or Jeb is the right candidate for 2016. We must find our way. They talk about the fog of war. We are definitely in the fog of politics right now.
Regards,
Jim
If this is what Ricochet thinks is worthy of promotion to the main page, Ricochet is in far more trouble than breitbart.com.
Brian, thank you very much for this post. I am confused enough about this whole Trump/Breitbart/Anti-establishment melee that I don’t even want to read comments in this thread, for fear of becoming more upset and further confused.
I refuse to take up the task of analyzing the situation because intuitively I’m convinced it is 98% astroturf, being guided and manipulated by professional and semi-pro agitators – from Right, Left, and straight from Hell. I hope to weather the storm and come out with complete amnesia on the other side.
Though I loved Andrew Breitbart I think he unfortunately attracts many unbalanced and sociopathic losers, just like Glenn Beck. Breitbart was a One and Only. His schtick/persona cannot be duplicated, though many have tried – and failed miserably.
Brietbart used to be a regular stop and in the last few weeks I found myself asking the same question “What happened?” It seems to me that is has become personal instead of professional. What a shame, it used to be a good source of information/ideas and now I am embarrassed by what I read.
Given the latest back and forth on Breitbart.com, that are repostings of Twitter exchanges, it might be best if a firehose was turned on all guilty parties slinging slime, Rick Wilson included. Everyone needs a time out. I won’t provide the link.
Brian,
I second your firehouse motion. Hey guys when did Breitbart or J-Pod or Rick become the enemy.
Just knock it off!
Regards,
Jim
One further point, if I may. Much if not all of this nonsense could have been avoided had the editors at Breitbart.com simply posted a simple response to the CNN interview with Wilson and Breitbart editor-in-chief Marlow, to the effect: “Mr. Wilson in an appearance on CNN made a couple of salient points about Donald Trump’s rhetorical style but we feel his characterization of Breitbart’s editorial position as overtly supporting Mr. Trump is incorrect as is his characterization of those supporting Mr. Trump.” Done. Staying above the fray and taking the high ground.
This could have been a small entry somewhere on the Breitbart home page. Instead Nolte chose to ratchet up the situation by personally attacking Wilson, making it a lead story which resulted in other counterattacks which also escalated. Unfortunately, this open war between Republicans and conservatives has dominated the Breitbart site for the past several days obscuring many other more important stories.
Brian,
How do we get a message to Breitbart editor-in-chief that they aren’t helping running this. Iran, Hillaryemailgate,..etc. ignored. We’re not helping when we take attention away from the material disasters of the left and focus everyone on intramural squabbles for 3 days of news cycles. Apparently it isn’t over yet but I refuse to look. This isn’t what I want to spend any time or energy on.
Regards,
Jim
John Podhoretz has always been very low-class himself. A walking example of regression to the mean….
On immigration, he is an open-borders fanatic, which is probably why the Trump candidacy has him so worked up. I used to enjoy the way J-Pod would get beaten like a pinata by Mark Krikorian and John Derbyshire at The Corner on NRO way back in the day.
What Nolte wrote about Wilson is not remotely comparable to Wilson’s egregious tweet about Coulter. It’s hard to see how any fair-minded observer could grant Wilson the cover of saying that all the parties “need a firehose” – a patently false equivalence.
BTW, when I last checked, there were 25 stories on the Breitbart Big Government page. Eighteen had nothing to do with Trump, four were about Trump, and three were about other GOP candidates but referenced Trump in some capacity. One dealt with the Wilson tweet.
Dominating the site to the exclusion of other stories?
iDad,
Thanks for the heads up. We’re moving past this micro-crisis. Good.
Regards,
Jim
WHOA. STOP THE PRESSES.
I just clicked on Breitbart and the headline of the lead story that came up immediately can’t be repeated as it would break CoC.
It’s not quite over iDad.
Regards,
Jim
I believe the get over one million comments per month, so I find it entirely plausible that they can’t afford to edit all of them.
It feels like a riot of misbehavior where the lawlessness “liberates” people to be their worst selves.
Lots of people have strong feelings about these issues without completely degrading themselves.