On this, the anniversary of my friend and colleague Andrew Breitbart’s death, I find that there is little for me to add to what I wrote last March 1 over at NRO, when I awoke to the news that Andrew was gone:

In the war against the institutional Left, Andrew Breitbart was the Right’s Achilles; the bravest of all the warriors, now fallen on the plain. There was no combat in which he would not engage, no battle — however small — he would not join with glee, and no outcome acceptable except total victory. His unexpected death last night at the young age of 43 is not the end of his crusade, but its beginning.

No figure on our side was more despised in the whited sepulchers of the media/academic/political Left, and Breitbart wore their loathing as a daily badge of honor. His refusal to grant even a glimmer of moral absolution constantly enraged them, and his very existence was an affront to their carefully constructed — to use one of Andrew’s favorite words — “narrative” of moral superiority. Naturally, they are already dancing on his grave, with the manic joy of being suddenly and miraculously delivered from one of their most potent enemies.

You can read the whole thing here. My conclusion:

It was not in his DNA ever to leave the field. He was the kind of leader the Right needs more of — not a go-along, get-along time-serving functionary but a tactical commander on the battlefield, ever ready to take the bridge, fire the village, and move on to the next objective. If he had a flaw, it lay in not distinguishing between tactics and strategy, and in fighting with targets (Media Matters and a host of other blogosphere hacks and nonentities) who were beneath him. 

He did not live to make General, which is the Left’s gain and our loss. But his example lives on. Those of us who were his friends, colleagues, and allies remain standing, in the fight to the end. It is the very least we can do for him.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I left criticism more than a decade ago, but it still pains me to see the ongoing politicization of what should be an independent discipline, not just another arm of the DNC. I’m going to try and see the movie this weekend, but I find it impossible to believe that there’s nothing good to say about it. Instead, though, the critics seem to be dismissing it with a contemptuous lefty sneer — just like their political counterparts do when assessing conservative ideas.

So, in case you missed the debate last night, here’s the highlight reel. Obama’s the guy who keeps landing on the canvas. Enjoy:

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You’re not going to like this much (or maybe you will), but here’s what Politico is pushing:

Paul Ryan has gone rogue. He is unleashed, unchained, off the hook.

“I hate to say this, but if Ryan wants to run for national office again, he’ll probably have to wash the stench of Romney off of him,” Craig Robinson, a former political director of the Republican Party of Iowa, told The New York Times on Sunday…

Though Ryan had already decided to distance himself from the floundering Romney campaign, he now feels totally uninhibited. Reportedly, he has been marching around his campaign bus, saying things like, “If Stench calls, take a message” and “Tell Stench I’m having finger sandwiches with Peggy Noonan and will text him later.”

Even before the stench article appeared, there was a strong sign that Ryan was freeing himself from the grips of the Romney campaign. It began after his disastrous appearance on Friday before AARP in New Orleans. Ryan delivered his remarks in the style dictated by his Romney handlers: Stand behind the lectern, read the speech as written and don’t stray from the script.

If true, can’t say I’m terribly surprised. Ryan’s a fighter.  Mitt… not so much. On the other hand, Ryan could simply be making a joke at the Times‘s expense — after all, it’s not like the media has a sense of humor or anything.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area on Sunday, please join David Kahane at 3 p.m. as he enlightens the Hancock Park Patriots in the ways of Rules for Radical Conservatives, his brilliant treatise on beating the Left at its own game to take back America. It’s free, and the venue is one of the most spectacular residential neighborhoods in America; you can reserve a spot among the elect by writing to “email45@aol.com”.

The Hancock Park Patriots are a kind of grassroots maquis band, whose purpose is (1) creating a sense of community among fiscal conservatives in Los Angeles, (2) empowering fiscal conservatives to express their political views freely, (3) informing fiscal conservatives about important public policy issues, and (4) getting fiscal conservatives involved in the political process.

By the way, there’s no truth to the rumor that the Great Kahane is thinking of running for office. You can, however, follow his ruminations on Twitter @dkahanerules. In the meantime, Dave expects to be back on the home page at NRO, just as soon as he finishes the renovations on his palatial pad in Echo Park and Ginger completes her new Esperanto translation of Schopenhauer’s Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, which has been commissioned by George Soros.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.