Andrew Breitbart was a hero to many in the conservative movement, and a scourge to the left. Though he's been dead for more than a year now, his impact is still being felt, probably most strongly on his BigGovernment.com website.
Breitbart was an acolyte to both Arianna Huffington and Matt Drudge, assisting both of them with their ground breaking websites. In the late 2000s, Breitbart became a force of his own as a commentator and writer, enthralling his fans by calling the late Ted Kennedy, just hours after his death, a "duplicitous bastard," "a prick" and "a special pile of human excrement."
His attempt to embarrass a former USDA official named Shirley Sherrod also had unfortunate consequences for his reputation.
But a new documentary coming to Tampa for one night only next month promises to show all the sides of this right-wing hero in a picture called Hating Breitbart. It will play in Tampa at the Veterans AMC Theater on Friday night, May 17.
A press release touting the film describes Breitbart as "a polarizing figure whose legacy is still being debated. Loved and hated, Andrew was a jovial prankster and a one-man wrecking ball who used his unique understanding of both traditional and new media to change the way that information flows in the modern era."
This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2013.