Left-wing Talker Bill Press: 'I Can't Think of One Good Thing to Say' About 'Right-Wing Extremist' Breitbart
Former Catholic seminarian and left-wing radio host Bill Press took to his eponymous program today and devoted significant attention to the death of conservative blogger and author Andrew Breitbart. It was not all positive, although he did feature guests who had kind things to say about Breitbart's impact on Internet journalism.
"Raised a Catholic, I was taught the great phrase 'Necal [sic] nisi bonum*' you don’t say anything about the dead unless you’re saying good things about the dead. Well, then I should say nothing about Andrew Breitbart because I can’t think of one good thing to say about him." [MP3 clip here]
Earlier in his program Press described Breitbart as (MP3 clip here; emphasis mine):
... a happy warrior, the most effect and innovative user of the new media. That’s a phrase I saw a lot how innovative he was in using the new media. And you know they’re right about that, he was very innovative in using the new media to distribute and to disseminate lies, for the most part, lies. I mean the guy had he was a right-wing extremist, he had a right-wing agenda and he used the new media to spread right-wing propaganda even if it wasn’t true.
That's certainly speaking ill of the dead, but at least Press avoided calling the late Breitbart a "suicide bomber" like he did of Newt Gingrich in January.
To his credit, Press did have guests on who largely had positive things to say about Breitbart's contributions to both journalism and political activism.
Said Dylan Byers, Politico's media reporter [MP3 clip here]
I think a lot of people are going to miss him. I think that there’s an argument even among the people who disliked him the most, that maybe journalism is going to be a little less exciting for a little while.
His contribution is as someone put it yesterday, is incredible force of will and passion to pursue the stories he wants to pursue. John Harris at Politico, the counterpart to Jim VandeHei did mention on MSNBC yesterday, that you know he was at the periphery just three or four years ago, sure force of will all the sudden was now driving the conversation. That is, say what you will about his politics and whether you disagree with him or agree with him, he made that happen.
Later in the same hour, BuzzFeed's Ben Smith explained how he was inspired by Breitbart [MP3 clip here]:
PRESS: To what extent are you influenced, were you influenced by, inspired by, or followed the example of Andrew Breitbart?
BEN SMITH: You know, I mean Andrew actually worked with the guy who founded BuzzFeed; they were two of the founding partners of Huffington Post. I mean it’s kind of a small world that these guys I think were thinking and looking really far ahead, you know in terms of what’s working on the internet. And Andrew did have this incredible intuitive sense of how the media works and how in his view it should have worked. So.
PRESS: And but you know obviously he was wrong on a lot of issues two, right? I mean he was right about Anthony Weiner he was wrong about Shirley Sherrod he was wrong about ACORN. So does that kind of put a, leave a cloud over the new media you think or, just a cloud over Andrew Breitbart?
BEN SMITH: You know, I sort of think the new media at this point is too big and diverse to have a cloud over it.
Of course, Breitbart was RIGHT about ACORN and the meme that he was wrong about Sherrod is inaccurate reporting by the liberal media.
*that should be nil nisi bonum or "de mortuis nil nisi bonum"
- Ken Shepherd's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Press
Submitted by mmilesll on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 5:11pm.
My mother always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say about somebody don't say anything and you don't have to say it if you have enough sense to remember it. Press is too stupid to have learned that, I see. I always thought this idiot was an a hole and now he proves it in spades.
And the feeling is mutual, I'm sure, Mr. Press
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 5:24pm.
But who other than MSNBC and a few Leftwing losers listening to their radios care what you have to say about anything?
As for Breitbart and ACORN, he -- or rather, the two young folks who stung ACRON -- were spot on. The organization proved to be so corrupt financially that it had to disband (at least officially) and reorganize under new names.
If Washington was doing its job, it would've had ACORN up on RICO charges years ago.
If the Press had done it's
Submitted by dscott on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 11:53am.
If the Press had done it's job it would have outed Obama as a former lawyer for ACORN and the racist Jeremiah Wright as his mentor. As Bill Press full well knows, it's not what you cover but what you choose NOT to cover.
???
Submitted by oldfart on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 5:25pm.
Bill who?
I won't wait for Press to punch out...
Submitted by KyWriter on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 5:28pm.
...here's a list of all the good things I will say about him:
What about a statement for
Submitted by John21 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 5:40pm.
What about a statement for the left wing extremist known as Bill Press?
Funny
Submitted by rockyracoon on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 6:19pm.
I can't think of one good thing to say about Bill Press.
Facts are like kryptonite to the liberal.
But I have a helluva list of
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 8:32pm.
But I have a helluva list of BAD things to say about Bill De-Press, and he's still alive, so I guess I can say them, huh???
Heres all the good things I can see about Press:
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 6:29pm.
....................................................................................................................
Who cares?
Submitted by Truestar on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 6:39pm.
Who cares what a horse's ass like Press says about anything? I sure as hell will say absolutely nothing about him when he kicks the bucket.
Bill Press missed another golden opportunity
Submitted by ronber on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 7:10pm.
Bill Press missed another golden opportunity to keep his mouth shut!
Conspiracy and Andrew Breitbart
Submitted by berlet98 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 7:12pm.
Conspiracy and Andrew Breitbart
American conspiracy theories come in all stripes, from the goofy to the believable, from the bizarre to the likely, from the cruel to the fawning.
Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? Was 9/11 an inside job? Did Whitney Houston intentionally kill herself?
The very untimely death of arch-conservative Andrew Breitbart promises to fuel suspicions that foul play was involved. Indeed, another arch-conservative, radio commentator Michael Savage, has already suggested Breitbart was assassinated.
The 43 year old Breitbart, who had said three weeks earlier, ”Wait til they see what happens March first,” died near his Los Angeles home on Thursday, March first. According to the Associated Press and Reuters, the conservative firebrand had a history of heart problems and his personal website, Breitbart.com, reported he died “unexpectedly from natural causes” although no cause has yet been provided.
Indicative of official doubt as to reasons for his sudden death, the LA coroner’s office announced it would conduct an autopsy. Whatever the autopsy findings, it can be certain many will conclude Andrew Breitbart was murdered by one of his many enemies.
Aside from the deaths of Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck, no conservative’s passing would have delighted the rabid left more than Breitbart’s and his enemies began to spew their hatred in venomous articles and tweets within hours of the reports.
The taxpayer-subsidized NPR called him a “provocateur” and ”bombastic.” The Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington was about the only prominent liberal who didn’t rip Breitbart. She couldn’t bring herself to describe his political influence but did praise him as a passionate, exuberant, and fearless friend.
WashingtonExaminer.com published a few of the earliest tweets, beginning with Slate.com’s Matt Yglesias’, “Conventions around dead people are ridiculous. The world outlook is slightly improved with @AndrewBrietbart dead.”
That mean-spirited observation was gracious compared to others including, “Andrew Breitbart now enjoying afternoon tea with Hitler good riddance you hack,” ”Andrew Breitbart died? Is it wrong that I’m happier about that than when they got bin Laden and Saddam?” ”Breitbart dead? More republicans should follow his lead,” “Andrew Breitbart is dead, He was a vile excuse for a human being,” and “Andrew Breitbart haha youre dead and in hell being a gay with hitler.”
I assume those tweets were either a consequence of President Obama’s call for more national civility or a reflection of the fear Obamians are experiencing as they await Breitbart’s tapes of Barack Obama at Harvard.
Breitbart referred to the tapes at his recent 2012 CPAC speech, . . . (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=15359)
Too bad we can't...
Submitted by sherlock1 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 7:20pm.
Too bad we can't conduct a controlled experiment between Bill Press and Andrew Breitbart on the recently-departed's contribution to the cause of truth.
No one will notice when Bill Press passes
Submitted by frank14 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 7:44pm.
He's a disgrace.
libs being libs
Submitted by jackl92 on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 7:45pm.
If Bill Pressed did not see anything wrong with ACORN that would leave me with two words, game over.
jackl92
I survived Catholic School
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 8:15pm.
I survived Catholic School too.
The nuns taught me plenty. Like:
Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.
A short pencil is better than a long memory.
God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.
There will come a day when your faith will be sorely tested.
A lie will spread halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put on its pants.
Etc.
I didn't realized it then but some of those nuns were pretty sharp.
Press' snarky comment may please the left but it demonstrates he learned nothing.
Press
Submitted by grammajane on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 8:19pm.
is a worthless so-called human
Well, Press is half right
Submitted by JohnP in OK on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 8:25pm.
He's half right in saying "I can't think of anything good to say" about Andrew Breitbart...the first half of that statement is undeniably true.
Press's real reason for hating Breitbart is that Press will never have half the success that Andrew Breitbart has had.
Nor, for all Press's years in the media, does he have one-one hundredth the influence of Andrew Breitbart.
And I won't even compare the two on integrity...Andrew Breitbart beat Press hands down every single day before even waking up in the morning.
I find it extremely funny that Breitbart started life a liberal
Submitted by TheHistorian on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 8:34pm.
I find it extremely funny that Breitbart started life a liberal and became a conservative after he had to support himself. Ed Schultz, who has lived off others his entire life, started life a conservative and is now a liberal. Anybody want to tell me who is the better person? I will take Breitbart over Schultz any day.
For all of you fulminating liberals, he also helped start both Drudge AND HuffPO. He was a good and honest man, and exposed the skullduggery of the left. He let you guys perform to your baser instincts. He did not trap you. He let you trap yourself. That is how he is different from every 60 Minutes person. He also didn't twist facts, which makes him different from Media Matters.
Dennis Prager
That's ok, Bill, don't you
Submitted by NCfairandbalanced on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 9:00pm.
That's ok, Bill, don't you worry about that one bit. Because you see, I would be worried if you had. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Bill Press?
Submitted by truckinmann on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 9:02pm.
Who is Bill Press? I have nothing good to say about him, as I have no idea who he is. I only follow intelligent people on the radio, television, or the web, one of which was Andrew Breitbart. Bill Press has nothing good to say about Mr. Breitbart because he's obviously to ignorant to understand an intelligent person. So Mr. Press, just crawl back into what ever hole you crept out of to be noticed, and stay there. When we want your opinion, we'll tell you what to say.
Bill
Submitted by Dan Diego on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 9:11pm.
Please make sure your headstone is a low-flush model as lots of folks will probably want to share their beer with you and don't forget the cake and target.
Bill Press is a small
Submitted by Semus on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 10:24pm.
Bill Press is a small insignificant man, the more often he opens his mouth the smaller he gets. I use to hear some from him years ago, it may have been the crossfile show. Anyway at the time he didn't seem so mean and rotten, nothing like this laughable firebrand he become. He was probably told to become this way in order to keep his job. He tries so hard to be incendiary, who knows what he truly believes who cares.
Exactly
Submitted by Vandamage2000 on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 6:05pm.
Who the f--- is Bill Press?
You guys rail against the MSM, but you pick out quotes from left wing bloggers and radio hosts that no body reads or listens to.
Nobody!
I'm a left-winger, and I don't listen to any of these guys. These guys are far from the MSM, yet you cherry pick their quotes and claim they represent all liberals.
Just like I could easily find racist, uneducated bloggers and cherry pick their quotes and try to say all conservatives are small minded.
But I don' t have to do that. Fox News, the #1 cable news network, is the MSM. Rush Limbaugh, who reaches millions of listeners a day, is MS. Their journalism (and lack of) is important. Not this guy.
As for Breitbart, a man who was willing to lie and cheat his way to the spotlight, did not deserve to die. But he doesn't deserve to be canonized either.
So, Van, maybe you can
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 6:58pm.
So, Van, maybe you can educate all of us ignorant right-wing cherry-pickers as to who we SHOULD be listening to and reading, if you're the expert on left-wing (dis)information..............................and you might be the first purported left-winger that I've ever heard calling FOX and Rush Limbaugh the MSM...........if they're so mainstream, why does your Boy Barry keep telling people to NOT listen to them???
I get the feeling that you're so off-the-charts left that most of us haven't heard of the people that are influencing you.
And - Bill (De)Press had a show on CNN (I think) for quite a while with Bob Novak, called ........'the Firing Line', or something like that. He's a fairly well-know lib lefty - even if you don't know who he is.
All right...
Submitted by Vandamage2000 on Sun, 03/04/2012 - 12:11pm.
First of all, it should be clear that when people say MSM, they mean New York Times, Boston Globe, NBC, ABC, and CBS nightly news, maybe CNN and MSNBC, possibly even Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Maher. Shows and papers that people actually read. You can certainly find liberal bias there, there is no question.
But you guys dredge up no names from fringe blogs. It's dumb.
If Rush is not MSM, how is it that he's so popular? If Fox is not MSM, how is it the #1 Cable News Network? If we're going based on ratings, there is no contest.
The President of the United States did not say "don't watch Fox News." He said to watch fox as well as other networks to get a more complete view of issues. Liberals do watch Fox News to get the "other side" of the story. Liberals do not have to misrepresent conservatives to disagree with them.
Dude, you have no idea who Bill Press is.
Don't blame us for your ignorance
Submitted by Blonde on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 7:12pm.
Too bad, so sad, you don't know who Bill Press is.
And spare us your ignorant Breitbart opinion, while you're at it. No one cares about an anonymous liberal here, anyway.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Excuse me, Van,
Submitted by nolefan2 on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 7:18pm.
but you neglected to say just how Andrew lied and cheated his way to the top. And, as far as canonizing him, I hope you get as sick of hearing about him after death as some of us did of hearing about Ted Kennedy. Now, there was a liar and a cheat, not to mention a man who let a young woman drown because he was too worried about his political career.
Well then...
Submitted by Vandamage2000 on Sun, 03/04/2012 - 12:20pm.
He clearly misrepresented Shirley Sherrod as a racist, and never apologized for it.
He clearly misrepresented Acorn as an organization that broke the law, when they were not.
Put words in the mouths of Missouri Professors, making them sound as if they were in favor of violence:
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/17/getting_wise_to_breitbarts_lies_mi....
Edited remarks by NPR execs to make it sound like he thought the Tea Party was racist.
The list goes on.
I'm not going to defend Ted Kennedy. Breitbart was not a journalist. He was a man with an agenda, who was willing to distort information to get the results he wanted.
Isnt saying "I have nothing nice to say" an insult though?
Submitted by BarneyFrankenstein on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 11:45pm.
Saying "I have nothing nice to say" out loud is the same thing as saying something bad about someone.
What a total smarmy thing to do Bill. You just couldnt resist dancing on Breitbart's grave could you?
Now Im not going to call Bill Press an asshole, Because that would be mean. He's simply not not-an-asshole.
How's that?
The "tolerance"
Submitted by gfrrman on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 12:55am.
of the left........hahahahahahhahahahahahahah HA-HA= ZERO.
g
It goes in both directions
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 3:24am.
It goes in both directions you liberal moron, I find nothing of value in your life except for you to serve as a warning to others.
Bill Press....
Submitted by richflanj on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 11:07am.
Sounds like a guy who should be working in a dry cleaners.... At leat then he would be useful.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 3:31pm.
Nor I you.....
Three-word summary
Submitted by Pilgrim1949 on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 10:03pm.
Bill just provided a three-word summary of his own life:
I can't think
Everything beyond that was just bloviating noise.
"Ye canne change the laws of physics....." but some politicians believe that with the right legislation you can pretend they don't really apply to your own pet projects...