My friend Andrew Breitbart – for many years the West Coast arm of The Drudge Report – has recently been inundated by questions from the media concerning a new website he is developing for Arianna Huffington. Because Andrew regards this as primarily a blogosphere (not MSM) matter, he has asked me to post the following statement for him. Here’s Andrew:
I’ve gotten a ton of e-mails asking me what I’m up to. Here it is:
The New York Times got it right — I am amicably leaving the Drudge Report after a long and close working relationship with Matt Drudge, a man who will rightfully take his place in the history books as an Internet news pioneer. I am also excited to be a partner in an inspired new endeavor, the Huffington Post. The last time I worked with Arianna she got a guy who didn’t deserve to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery disinterred. That was cool. I admit: I like to go where the action is.
As for my politics, I am, quite literally, an open book. ‘Hollywood, Interrupted’ spells it out perfectly. I am a raucous, opinionated, red meat eating libertarian-leaning conservative who refuses to be relegated to a conservative ghetto. I have lived on L.A.’s liberal Westside for all of my life. I went to the liberal Brentwood School. Most of my friends and extended family lean left and will all attest that at gatherings I gleefully disagree with them. Yet I still love them, and refuse to give up on getting them to see things my way. But the last election cycle gave me an ulcer. As a Dennis Miller/South Park kind of Republican, I am offended by both ‘Bush is Hitler’ rhetoric and fetus-in-a-jar political speech.
What the world needs more of is amicable — even jocular — disagreement. Bringing my former boss and longtime friend Arianna ’s intriguing friends to the blogosphere, the ultimate level playing field, makes perfect sense to me, and I am thrilled to be committed to such a groundbreaking project. Will my pals on the right have a place to offer their two cents at the Huffington Post? Absolutely. Will I agree with everyone’s written word? Of course not. But that’s precisely the point. May the best ideas win.
Developing…
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42 Comments
1. N. O'Brain:My predictions on the Huffington….thing:
Comments will be turned off after about 3 nanoseconds.
After the 7th or 8th post, the server will collapse into itself as a tiny singularity of stupidity.
Just guessing here.
-N. O’Brain
Apr 26, 2005 - 4:34 pm 2. Terrye:Hey to each his own but it seems to me that Arianna and her ilk already have plenty of oppurtunities to spout off.
I wonder if they will really have a comments segment? And if so will Arianna and Warren and the like be shocked to know there are tens of millions of people who could give a rat’s ass what they think.
Apr 26, 2005 - 4:34 pm 3. JK Ribera:This could be an interesting experiment in egalitarianism – as opposed to “idealized” eqalitarianism.
Apr 26, 2005 - 4:37 pm 4. Buddy Larsen:Dear Mr. No Brain, I am using BL’s computer, so don’t be confused. I am going to find you and tear out your hairs. Thank You, Arianna.
Apr 26, 2005 - 4:46 pm 5. erp:A couple of weeks ago in reply to another poster’s question about Mr. Breitbart’s leaving Drudge, I mistakenly said he was going to Moonbat Central. What I should have said is that I read on Moonbat Central that he was going to the new Huffington blob. Sorry about that and good luck to him in the new venue.
I just read Roger’s blog above to my husband. He was skeptical all of them would type out a post and that a lot of them will probably have ghost bloggers. What a thought. More jobs for writers.
Apr 26, 2005 - 4:57 pm 6. charlotte:Best to the talented Mr. Breitbart, but to many of us these are not interesting times, they are dire days, and Arianna and friends argue on the side of inconsequence and worse. It matters.
Apr 26, 2005 - 4:57 pm 7. richard mcenroe:Since everything that comes out of Arianna’s mouth is a freaking joke, I expect there will be plenty of room for jocular disagreement.
But that site could serve a real purpose. Nothing did the Republicans more good in the last election than the public actually seeing and hearing what celebrities stood for. I just wonder how long it will take these maroons (have you seen their correspondent list) to figure out that they’re being taken about as seriously as a Victor Mature cameo…
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:06 pm 8. Kyda Sylvester:The NYT tells us Get ready for the next level in the blogosphere. Is this anything like when Air America was going to be the next level in talk radio? If so, I’m ready.
I’m sorry, but I just can’t take this seriously (I’d say I was cynical but some one pointed out earlier today that cynicism doesn’t attach to things so trivial). If someone at Huffington Huff ‘n Puff comes up with an original idea, never mind a better one, let me know.
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:09 pm 9. Jim Brown:Time will tell, but I don’t see it lasting.
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:18 pm 10. jedrury:The best thing about Arianna going online is that one doesn’t have to listen to her annoying whine.
She makes no sense whatsoever. she has “no cred” as they say.
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:29 pm 11. goldsmith:Why, exactly, are we supposed to care about what Zsa Zsa Algore and her 250 closest “friends” thing about anything? Reading that list of names is like looking at the cast call sheet for a taping of Celebrity Family Feud or maybe “The Love Boat”. And this is supposed to be “the next level”? There is an almost unbearable arrogance to some wealthy woman puttering in front of a million weblogs in an underpowered Prius, dismissively waving a bejewelled hand and braying “Move over, amateurs, time for the professionals to show you a thing or two, dahlings!” Blogs work for precisely the reasons that this one will fail.
Breitbart may be a terrific guy, but he should choose his projects more discriminately. I guess the money’s good.
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:32 pm 12. Engineer:As N. O’Brain said “Comments will be turned off after about 3 nanoseconds.”
They will not be able to deal with having their comments fact checked.
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:47 pm 13. Kathy K:Andrew sounds like my kinda person.
The new site should be interesting. Even if I disagree with most of what is posted on it.
Apr 26, 2005 - 5:55 pm 14. Barry Dauphin:I agree with Breitbart that we would be better off finding ways of disagreeing that people can live with, as not every Kerry voter was a moonbat (though I still believe in calling a moonbat a moonbat). He loves his family, but do they love him? I’m sure they do, but the point is you have to like yourself well enough to risk having those you like and care about look at you differently when you “reveal” that you voted for Bush. Recently I was at a psychoanalytic meeting sponsored by the organization of which I am President. The speaker veers off into politics and Bush bashing in a way that was not germane to his paper. He then asks if there are any “Bushies” in attendence, expecting a negative. Up goes my hand (the only hand up but was I really the only Bush voter in attendance?). He then set a different tone and got back to the subject he was presenting on.
Arianna is another matter. Breitbart should have waited until something better came along (although maybe he’ll be able to convince Arianna to play a behind the scenes role). She is a lightweight among lightweights. Her charm has worn out its welcome. Shrill does not work over an extended period of time if one is trying to appeal to people who disagree with you. She only cares about preaching to the choir. This sounds like a vanity project and not an influencial project.
Apr 26, 2005 - 6:05 pm 15. Buddy Larsen:Engineer is right…look for the language to undo itself…pretty quickly the cast will be reduced to highly generalized universalisms, and from there to grunts and snuffles.
Apr 26, 2005 - 6:10 pm 16. Charlie (Colorado):N. O’Brain — Heinlein reference?
Apr 26, 2005 - 6:17 pm 17. Kyda Sylvester:A preview of what to expect from Arianna’s “intriguing friends”:
Nora Ephron: “In the Fox era, everything we can do on our side to even things out, now that the media is either controlled by Rupert Murdoch or is so afraid of Rupert Murdoch that they behave as if they were controlled by him, is great. But sometimes, I may merely have a cake recipe.”
Apr 26, 2005 - 6:24 pm 18. Buddy Larsen:Wait’ll ya hear from The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel. Hoo, boy…wow. ding-dong, ding-dong.
Apr 26, 2005 - 6:58 pm 19. Buddy Larsen:Read the mission statement, about the rag’s self-proclaimed war on lies and misrepresentation, and how it’s not in the service of any party or organization. Then, skip to the brag on their breaking of the Valerie Plame “scandal”…without any mention of its thorough exposure as a set-up scandal in service of the Kerry campaign. Oh, joy, that’s just for starters.
Apr 26, 2005 - 7:06 pm 20. ordi:IF they are all writing their own stuff it will sound like the screed Sean Penn penned.
It will be a flash in the pan.
Apr 26, 2005 - 7:07 pm 21. Mike_Nargizian:Look, if this site is successful more power to it. I think a lot of people here and elsewhere are hoping it fails or doesn’t become another Drudge, very doubtful.
What’s interesting -
The New York Times did a full article on the blogsphere, Charles posted on it (can’t find it now though) Charles said he spent 30 minutes on the phone with the reporter and then only 3 sites were written about as an “example” of the blogsphere – The Daily Kos and 2 other far left sites… (Believe it was the NYTimes?)
Now they do this full article on the “new
exciting” site. It’s such Orwellian propaganda manipulation that it’s disgusting and they can’t even at least make it a little less obvious because they’re so elitist partisan they can’t help themselves.
Drudge is a little arrogant himself… but at least he earns it every day the hard knocks way, though he’s sure to remind everyone of that.
However, watching “Real Time” with Bill Maher and Arianna and their preening/whining every show is so old, predictably boring and nauseating already that it’s amazing to me tha Arianna actually doesn’t get how annoying she is?
I wonder if Roger could illuminate if she is that annoying in person?
Was she cute when she was 10-15 years younger?
What happened to Bill Maher? Is he proving that he can be or seem almost unbiased when there’s a Democrat in the House but when there’s a Republican then the claws come out?
Mike
Apr 26, 2005 - 7:09 pm 22. S. Weasel:I’m puzzled by the comparison of this and other sites to Drudge. Drudge functions mostly as a clipping service. He (and his elves) scour the headlines and link to the ones they find interesting. That’s 90% of the site’s function. There’s a bit of a conservative slant to their choices — but not overwhelmingly conservative — plus an interest in a-political things like weather and Hollywood. Add an occasional scoop and a links list. Nobody has been able to compete with Drudge because…well, how many clipping services do you need, and how different would one run by a liberal be?
Huffington’s dingus is a group blog, which is an entirely different sort of animal. How can you compete with a thing when you clearly don’t understand its nature?
Apr 27, 2005 - 5:33 am 23. David Thomson:ìBreitbart may be a terrific guy, but he should choose his projects more discriminately. I guess the money’s good.î
Andrew Breitbart has probably signed a guaranteed contract. My guess is that he will receive a paycheck for the next few years even if this project is shut down within six months. Its very premise for existing is utterly senseless. Fox News was responding to the desperate need for beleaguered viewers to find an alternative to the liberal dominated MSM. Arianna Huffington appears to be offering nothing more than a warmed over Salon.com:
http://salon.com/
What is so original about this concept? I predict that Arianna and her ìintriguing friendsî will be a resounding failure. The comments of Hollywood stars will initially generate some interest—but that wears thin very quickly.
Liberal talk radio is losing the ratings war. Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo have done nothing to threaten Rush Limbaugh and laura Ingraham. The same will almost certainly hold true for this allegedly more balanced approach.
Apr 27, 2005 - 6:47 am 24. foreign devil:…just so you have a ‘Comments’ section so we can all chime in and straighten you out when needs be!
Apr 27, 2005 - 7:11 am 25. Peg C.:Sorry, Roger — Breitbart may be your friend but there is not a brain working among the Huffington crowd. I expect the writing to be on a par with La Streisand’s and as screedy as Garawfulo. There is no need for this; it is legion already.
Apr 27, 2005 - 8:53 am 26. Peg C.:Huffington is also the classic example of what my grandmother called a “flibbertigibbet.” She is pure twit.
Apr 27, 2005 - 8:58 am 27. marky48:“I’m sorry, but I just can’t take this seriously”
And this is supposed to be? It’s nothing more than a gang bang bandwagon. Give me a break.
Apr 27, 2005 - 9:46 am 28. Kyda Sylvester:I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think marky48 likes us very much.
Apr 27, 2005 - 10:29 am 29. Kyda Sylvester:Maybe it’s just me and I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think marky48 likes us very much.
Apr 27, 2005 - 10:31 am 30. Kyda Sylvester:Well, that certainly wasn’t worth saying twice.
Apr 27, 2005 - 10:32 am 31. Kevin P:Roger:
The blog is for everyone so if Ariaana wants to give it a shot thats ok. I believe that Briebart is sick of the worn out Bush-Hitler overblown hyperbole but if he looks at the line up he will be managing they are some of the biggest proponents of that exact ugly form of political assasination. I also think they will have center right “South Park” republicans guest blogging on a regular basis. When they are ripping the Bush administration. Call me a cynic but my guess is that 40 percent of the first weeks posts will be recaps of the “Bush Lied, Bin laden is still free, War for Oil” mantra that didn’t work for Kerry and won’t work for Ariana if she goes down that path. But she is a smart women and maybe Breibart can convince her that if she just tries to be a celebrity version of Kos it will not work. Who knows?
Apr 27, 2005 - 11:13 am 32. Pat Curley:Anybody seen Noam Chomsky’s blog lately? Neither has he (a joke that would be much funnier if only Noam were literally blind, instead of just figuratively).
Apr 27, 2005 - 12:32 pm 33. TigerHawk:The quality of the posts put up on Huffington’s blog collective will be inversely related to the prominance of the poster. A lot of these guys will write very bland stuff, because they will not want to “sacrifice their reputation” by saying what they really think. Others of them do not really think, so they won’t write anything interesting either. However, I confess as well to great interest in the project. If it is truly a blog — with links, trackbacks, comments — and in the spirit of a blog (i.e., revealing the personality of the contributors, with real interaction), it will be a lot of fun. Perhaps a fisk-o-rama, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
Apr 27, 2005 - 12:42 pm 34. JenLArt:I think it will be like Barbra Streisand’s “Truth Alerts” x 250.
(Or DUh.com with a face lift and Pellegrino.)
Breibart will regret this, as he will be the “odd man out.”
Maybe he just wants a front row seat for Implosion Hollywood.
God knows they’re not busy making good films!
Apr 27, 2005 - 1:23 pm 35. marky48:I call em like I seeum. If you’re content with just being a bashing cabal have at it. It’s protected speech, but it ain’t wisdom.
Apr 27, 2005 - 5:14 pm 36. JenLArt:Neither is wisdom the automatic gainsaying of one’s opponent.
If the continual “pooh-poohing” of the intelligent remarks on this good blog is your idea of smart commentary, markymark, you’ve come to the wrong place and belong with your peers at DemocratUnderground(DUh.com).
Apr 27, 2005 - 6:20 pm 37. marky48:Intelligent? Au contraire. Vigilanti is more like it.
Apr 27, 2005 - 7:57 pm 38. Buddy Larsen:Hey, Mr. Intelligent, it’s “vigilante”. (sigh) So hard to find decent dumb-asses these days.
Apr 27, 2005 - 10:23 pm 39. Pat Curley:What other choices are there, marky? We can sing the praises of Arianna’s brilliance or bemoan her idiocy. We can project success or failure for her new venture, or we can be really boring and admit that none of us knows how it will all turn out.
And it’s not as if you’ve added any food for thought to the discussion. You’ve critiqued without any substance, which ironically appears to be your beef against this post and the comments.
Apr 28, 2005 - 7:57 am 40. marky48:Well I suppose you could attack her ideas for a change. As far as dumb asses there’s one I can think of, however the option is open for proof of something else.
Apr 28, 2005 - 6:31 pm 41. Buddy Larsen:That was a pretty weak come-back, marky.
Apr 29, 2005 - 8:57 pm 42. C'Mon.:Quote:
“Matt Drudge, a man who will rightfully take his place in the history books as an Internet news pioneer.”
Is that a nice way of saying “I kiss Drudge’s butt even though he has no standards of accuracy or ethics”?
Sep 28, 2005 - 4:04 am