Last week, Simone Wilson's news piece about the death of conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart — and the unlikely fact that the Westside of Los Angeles served as both the rabble-rouser's hometown and his home base — triggered a flood of responses from readers ("Andrew Breitbart, Native Son"). Many recalled Breitbart's gleeful response to Ted Kennedy's passing, which included calling him a "special pile of human excrement" and suggested he "Rest in Chappaquiddick." And then ... they proceeded to give Breitbart the Breitbart treatment.
"His death makes my heart sing," writes a giddy David Ehrenstein. Adds EarlyDiscarder, "Breitbart was an extraordinary douchebag with about as much talent as Dennis Miller and Rush Limbaugh combined. He fancied himself quite the caustic wit, but in the end was simply a novelty whose tired claims had long ago run their course."
From reader Ella comes the first letter we've received in quite some time that approvingly quotes both Pat Robertson and Martha Stewart — while throwing in the phrase "piece of shit" for good measure.
"The moment I saw the headline, I knew what Pat Robertson always says must be true: Eventually God strikes dead and punishes those who work against the Bible," she writes. "If anyone broke the Golden Rule to 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' it was the piece of shit that walked the earth for a blessedly short period of time: Andrew Breitbart. I know it's not very godly to be glad someone is dead, but the fact that God struck down this pathetic, egotistical, money-grubbing, opportunistic media whore ... well, as they say in some quarters, it's a 'good thing.' "
Fastworker analyzes the California angle: "His only 'value' as a 'conservative' came from his living in liberal L.A. — like other Hollywood conservatives, he avoided actually living among his supposed like-minded individuals in the Old South, the trailer parks of the Sun Belt, the Nixonland of the O.C. He was a fraud, a simple egoist, whose one trick was a 'rebellion' against his birth and upbringing, without giving up in the least any of its advantages."
Kellyn says there are more conservatives in Los Angeles than many lefties want to admit. "There are plenty of L.A. natives politically on the right, and most of us know well to sit down and shut up. Thankfully Breitbart wasn't bullied by left-wing fascists."
Since we don't wish any of our deceased brethren ill, be they Kennedy or Breitbart, we'll give the last word to FormerLib160, who writes, "What I loved the most about Andrew Breitbart is the way he could make liberal/progressive heads explode. And even in his death, he is still doing that very same thing. Hell, read some of these comments. He is laughing his ass off."
Big Sippin'
Readers also weren't that impressed with Bishop Don "Magic" Juan, the pimp-turned–pimp cup purveyor at the center of last week's cover story ("Big Pimpin', " by Gabrielle Canon). Writes Vinyvega, "He's a piece of shit who should be in prison. What a waste of a cover story."
John Byron Brooks agrees. "Pimp cups haven't been relevant to hip-hop culture in years. Most white folks know that, and the ones that don't could care less. You'd have been better off doing another Odd Future cover story."
Anonymous, though, is a fan.
"Wow, Bishop is even more of a character than I thought. One might even go as far as to say a visionary," he writes. "And the Glass Lady — she's got street cred to the point that I'm suddenly in the market for a cup. (The demographic is growing as I type ...) Who knew there were so many layers to the pimp cup? Very interesting!"
Cooking With Roy
But if readers aren't so sure about Bishop Juan, well, they know exactly how they feel about Roy Choi, the chef famous for Kogi and A-Frame, who contributed to our Eats section last week ("Bookends"). Namely, they love him, and they loved his piece about cookbooks.
Writes Ecole, "I am another cookbook whore, as I started collecting recipes before the age of 10 and still have those recipes. I have shelves of cookbooks: Spanish, Italian, French, Bahamanian, Chinese, Brazilian, Joy of Cooking, five cookbooks alone on Thai food and Asian specialty dishes. I have The Zuni Cafe Cookbook as well — it is simply amazing, and the ricotta gnocchi spoke to my heart. You name it, I love it. This article was fantastic to read and made my heart beat faster, because I understand. Write that book. Make me proud to be a member of that cookbook whore group."
Vicki McCorkendale agrees. "Great article and clean, passionate writing. Looking forward to the first book and enjoying Lucky Peach in the meantime!"
So does Jill. "Love the last line — 'Just a 41-year-old recipe that took a lifetime to write.' Very powerful. I'll read the memoir! Bring it on!"
Corrections
Last week's theater review, "Prop. 8, Live Onstage!" contained three errors: The performance occurred at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in L.A., not Beverly Hills' Saban Theatre. Also, the name of David Blankenhorn, the expert witness who switched sides midtestimony, was misspelled, and he was portrayed by John C. Reilly in a last-minute substitution. We regret the errors.
Also, last week's cover story, "Big Pimpin'," reported that Bishop Don "Magic" Juan fathered 27 children. We obtained that number from Juan, but after the story came out, he contacted us to clarify that he only has "about 23." Duly noted.
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