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Thaddeus McCotter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Joe Knollenberg
Personal details
Born	Thaddeus George McCotter (1965-08-22) August 22, 1965 (age 46) Livonia, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Rita McCotter (1992–present)
Children	George (1993), Timothy (1995), Emilia (1997)
Residence	Livonia, Michigan
Alma mater	University of Detroit
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Thaddeus George "Thad" McCotter (born August 22, 1965) is the U.S. Representative to Michigan's 11th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes portions of Detroit's northwestern suburbs, such as Livonia, Westland and Novi.

He is running for reelection. From July 2 to September 21, 2011, he was an official candidate for the Republican nomination for president in the 2012 election.

Early life, education, and career[link]

McCotter was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School, Redford in 1983. His mother, Georgia Joan McCotter, was the City Clerk of Livonia.^[1] He received a B.A. from the University of Detroit in 1987 and a J.D. from the same school in 1990.

McCotter had a private law practice before being elected to the Wayne County Commission in 1992. While on the Commission, he helped change the county charter to require that new taxes win the approval of two-thirds of the Commission and 60% of voters in order to be passed.

Michigan State Senate[link]

McCotter was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 1998. As a State Senator, he helped apportion the U.S. Congressional district from which he was elected in 2002.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
  • Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade

Party leadership and caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional COPD Caucus
• House Sovereignty Caucus (Co-Founder)
• International Conservation Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus

Shortly before the midterm elections in November 2006, McCotter made a $250,000 contribution to the National Republican Congressional Committee. After the elections, when the Republicans had become the minority party in the House of Representatives, McCotter sought the Chairmanship of the House Republican Policy Committee. The other Republican seeking the post was Congressman Darrell Issa of southern California. In late 2006, McCotter was selected by the House Republican Caucus to head the Republican Policy Committee.

Political positions[link]

McCotter is a member of both the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership and the conservative Republican Study Committee.

In May 2007, McCotter, along with 55 other Republicans, voted for a bill, written by House Democrats, aimed at stopping energy price gouging. This was done against the wishes of House Minority Leader John Boehner, who labeled the bill "as pointless political pandering".^[2]

McCotter has been an avid supporter of the United States' involvement in both the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. In his 2011 book Seize Freedom!, he wrote that the two wars "were never separate wars; they have always been battle theaters in the War for Freedom."^[3]

On September 22, 2008, McCotter became the first Republican in the House of Representatives to oppose the $700 billion Paulson bailout plan, calling it "American socialism." A week later, he and 132 other Republicans voted against the bill.

At the end of July 2009 McCotter introduced a bill to allow pet owners a $3500 tax deduction for pet care costs.^[4] The bill, called the Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act, was criticized by Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center as "the poster puppy for all that is wrong with the tax code."^[5]

McCotter has supported a variety of union-friendly measures such as collective bargaining agreements for government jobs and card check.^[6]

Political campaigns[link]

2002[link]

McCotter was elected in November 2002 to the 108th Congress.

2004[link]

He was re-elected in the 2004 Congressional elections.

2006[link]

McCotter did not have a primary opponent for the 2006 Republican primary. His opponent in the November 2006 general election was Democrat Tony Trupiano, a progressive radio talk show host from Dearborn Heights. McCotter, Trupiano, Libertarian Party nominee John Tatar, and U.S. Taxpayers Party nominee Charles Tackett, met for the only time for a taped League of Women Voters forum in mid-October. In radio and direct mail advertisements, McCotter criticized Trupiano's position on illegal immigration. McCotter won re-election with 55 per cent of the vote.

2008[link]

In November 2008, McCotter defeated Democrat Joseph Larkin, Green Party candidate Erik Shelley, and Libertarian John Tatar. McCotter won 51 percent of the vote to Larkin's 45 percent.

2010[link]

In November 2010, McCotter easily defeated Democrat Natalie Mosher. McCotter won 59 percent of the vote to Mosher's 39 percent.

Presidential campaign[link]

Wikinews has related news: Congressman Thad McCotter to run for U.S. President

In May 2011, McCotter confirmed that he was considering a run for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in 2012.^[7][8] By late June, sources indicated that McCotter would enter the race.^[9]

On June 23, 2011, a McCotter representative bid $18,000 for a site at the Ames Straw Poll Auction in Iowa.^[10]

On July 1, 2011, McCotter announced that he had filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as a Republican candidate for President.^[11]

On July 2, 2011, McCotter formally announced his candidacy at a rock music festival in Whitmore Lake, Michigan, outside of Detroit.^[12][13][14]

Throughout his campaign, many commentators suggested that McCotter's lack of recognition nationwide would hamper his chances of winning the nomination, and McCotter received less than one percent in opinion polls. On September 22, 2011, McCotter announced he was ending his campaign for the presidential nomination, suggesting that his not having access to presidential debates hindered his campaign. McCotter stated that he would endorse Mitt Romney.^[15] McCotter called his termination of his campaign "death by media" and stated he may run again for his congressional district in 2012.^[16]

Wikinews has related news: Congressman Thad McCotter ends bid for U.S. president

2012[link]

Congressional campaign[link]

In April 2011, McCotter was the only member of Michigan's 15-member congressional delegation who did not confirm he was running for re-election.^[17] He indicated interest in running against incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan up for election in 2012, but in May 2011, he announced that he would not campaign for the position.^[18] After ending his bid for President, McCotter announced that he would seek the seat once more.

Wikinews has related news: U.S. Congressman Thad McCotter denied ballot in re-election primary race; announces write-in campaign

On May 25, 2012, Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced that McCotter had failed to submit enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the August 7 primary ballot. While McCotter had turned in 2,000 signatures--the maximum permitted by Michigan law for congressional primaries--a preliminary review indicated that fewer than the required minimum of 1,000 were valid. According to a spokeswoman with the Secretary of State's office, several of McCotter's petition signatures appeared to be duplicates. Michigan election law stipulates that if duplicates are found, both the original and duplicate are ruled invalid. McCotter would have the option of running as a write-in candidate in the primary election or as an independent in the general election if he fails to qualify for a primary ballot spot.^{[19] [20]}

On May 26, a source with the McCotter campaign told the Detroit Free Press that McCotter has conceded that the signatures will be ruled invalid, and that he is considering mounting a write-in effort for the Republican primary.^[21] McCotter confirmed this to Nolan Finley of The Detroit News, and added that he doesn't understand what happened.^[22] According to Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics, if McCotter is relegated to a write-in candidacy, he would be the first sitting congressman since the late 1940s not to qualify for his party's primary.^[23]

In an op-ed that ran in May 29's Detroit News, McCotter announced he will mount a write-in campaign in the Republican primary for his seat. He also acknowledged that the signatures in question were indeed invalid, based on his own legal team's review. Likening himself to George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, McCotter said that he was running a write-in campaign to "clean up my own mess."^[24] Later that day, state officials announced in two separate reviews that more than 80 percent of McCotter's petition signatures were invalid. The Secretary of State's office said its review revealed only 244 of 2,000 signatures were valid. Numerous petition sheets appeared to have been copied--in some cases, as many as three times--and in some cases a different canvasser's name was attached to one of the copies. Michigan elections director Chris Thomas conducted his own review, and said there was evidence signatures from 2010 petitions had been cut-and-pasted onto the 2012 sheets.^[25] Thomas also said that McCotter had only turned in 1,830 signatures, and all but 344 were invalid. His office's review revealed that dozens of petition sheets appeared to have been copied in what he described as an "unprecedented level" of fraud.^[26]

Late on May 27, the Secretary of State's office announced that it is looking into the possibility of fraud or forgery in McCotter's petitions.^[22]

Books written[link]

• Seize Freedom!: American Truths and Renewal in a Chaotic Age, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2011

Personal life[link]

McCotter is a practicing Catholic.^[27] He is married to the former Rita Michel, a nurse. They have three children.

McCotter was once in a band called the New Flying Squirrels.^[28]

"Second Amendments" band[link]

In December 2005, McCotter joined with several other Congressmen to form the "Second Amendments," a bipartisan rock and country band set to play for United States troops stationed overseas over the holiday season. He plays lead guitar. In June 2006, the band played for President Bush's Picnic on the White House lawn, where Bush was quoted calling McCotter "that rock and roll dude." ^[29]

Media appearances[link]

McCotter is a frequent guest on the late-night Fox News Channel television show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.

McCotter is also a regular guest on Dennis Miller's radio show, where the comedian-host refers to him as "young Thad" and "T-Mac" and frequently comments that he "likes the cut of [his] jib."

In June 2011, McCotter appeared on the Fox News Channel show Huckabee, where he performed in a musical number with his guitar.

References[link]

1. ^ "House Session: May 19, 2003". C-SPAN Video Library. May 19, 2003. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=596067412. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
2. ^ Weisman, Jonathan (2007-05-31). "Boehner leads effort to polish GOP brand". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053102102_2.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
3. ^ Thad McCotter on War & Peace, On the Issues
4. ^ H.R.3501 -- Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act Bill Text 111th Congress (2009-2010) Library of Congress
5. ^ Howard Gleckman, Happy Act: The Poster Puppy for What's Wrong with the Tax Code Tax Policy Center December 1, 2009
6. ^ Candidate profile: Michigan’s Thaddeus McCotter keeps critics, allies guessing Des Moines Register August 4, 2011
7. ^ "Rep. Thaddeus McCotter gets serious about possible bid for president", Detroit Free Press. May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
8. ^ "Rep. McCotter Ponders 2012 Presidential Run", The Wall Street Journal. May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
9. ^ Burns, Alexander (June 30, 2011). "Thaddeus McCotter to file for president Friday". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/58168.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
10. ^ "Thaddeus McCotter Creates Chaos At Straw Poll Auction", The Iowa Republican. June 23, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
11. ^ "Michigan GOP Rep. McCotter Unveils Presidential Bid", The Wall Street Journal. July 1, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
12. ^ Barr, Andy (July 2, 2011). "Thaddeus McCotter 2012 announcement is unusually understated". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58259.html. Retrieved July 3, 2011. 
13. ^ Whitesides, John (July 2, 2011). "Little-known Republican McCotter opens White House bid". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/03/us-usa-campaign-mccotter-idUSTRE7602Y120110703. Retrieved July 3, 2011. 
14. ^ Guarino, Mark (July 2, 2011). "Thaddeus McCotter jumps into presidential race. Thaddeus who?". Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/0702/Thaddeus-McCotter-jumps-into-presidential-race.-Thaddeus-who. Retrieved July 3, 2011. 
15. ^ "McCotter drops W.H. bid, endorses Romney ", USA Today. September 22, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
16. ^ "McCotter drops long shot bid for GOP presidential nomination From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110922/POLITICS03/109220448/McCotter-drops-long-shot-bid-for-GOP-presidential-nomination#ixzz1bMbpM86s". http://www.detnews.com. http://www.detnews.com/article/20110922/POLITICS03/109220448/McCotter-drops-out-of-race-for-GOP-presidential-nomination. Retrieved 20 October 2011. 
17. ^ "Most of state’s congressional delegation to seek re-election". Morning Sun. April 17, 2011. http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2011/04/17/news/doc4daa5c9302a82349463583.txt. Retrieved April 20, 2011. 
18. ^ "McCotter won't run for Senate" The Detroit News. May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
19. ^ Gray, Kathleen. Thaddeus McCotter may not appear on election ballot. Detroit Free Press, 2012-05-26.
20. ^ "Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter short on signatures for 2012 bid to retain his seat" mlive.com May 25, 2012
21. ^ Gray, Kathleen; Laitner, Bill. U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter to consider a write-in campaign in GOP primary race. Detroit Free Press, 2012-05-27.
22. ^ ^{a b} Schultz, Marsha. State looks into possible fraud in McCotter petition signatures foul-up. The Detroit News, 2012-05-28.
23. ^ Nichols, Darren A. McCotter's spot on GOP August ballot in question. The Detroit News, 2012-05-26.
24. ^ McCotter, Thaddeus. McCotter: "You clean up your own mess". The Detroit News, 2012-05-29.
25. ^ Schultz, Marisa. Just 244 of 2,000 McCotter signatures valid, petition review finds. The Detroit News, 2012-05-29.
26. ^ Gray, Kathleen. All but 344 of McCotter's 1,830 submitted signatures were invalid; official calls it 'unprecedented' fraud. Detroit Free Press, 2012-05-29.
27. ^ "Representative Thaddeus G. 'Thad' McCotter (MI)". Project Vote Smart. http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CMI37915. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
28. ^ Puchala, Jessica. Stones keyboardist jams with Michigan's McCotter, other House members. WZZM 13. 17 July 2008.
29. ^ "President and Mrs. Bush Attend Congressional Picnic". 2006-06-15. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060615-17.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thaddeus McCotter

	Biography portal
	Michigan portal
	Politics portal

• McCotter 2012, official presidential campaign site
• Congressman Thaddeus McCotter official U.S. House site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission (presidential)
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org (presidential)
• Profile at SourceWatch

Andrew Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart speaking at CPAC on February 10, 2012.
Born	(1969-02-01)February 1, 1969 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	March 1, 2012(2012-03-01) (aged 43) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Residence	Westwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Tulane University (B.A.)
Occupation	Writer, Columnist, Publisher
Spouse	Susannah Bean (m. 1997–2012); 4 children

Andrew Breitbart (pronounced /ˈbraɪtbɑrt/ (February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American publisher,^[1] commentator for The Washington Times, author,^[2] and occasional guest commentator on various news programs, who served as an editor for the Drudge Report website. He was a researcher for Arianna Huffington, and helped launch her web publication The Huffington Post.^[3]

He ran his own news aggregation site, Breitbart.com, and five other websites: Breitbart.tv, Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism, and Big Peace. He played key roles in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, and the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.

Early life[link]

Breitbart was the adopted son of Gerald and Arlene Breitbart, a restaurant owner and banker respectively, and grew up in upscale Brentwood, Los Angeles. He was raised Jewish (his adoptive mother had converted to Judaism when marrying his adoptive father).^[4][5] He had explained that his birth certificate indicated his biological father was a folk singer. He was ethnically Irish by birth, and his adopted sister is Hispanic.^[4] He changed his political views after experiencing an "epiphany" during the Clarence Thomas hearings, and later described himself as "a Reagan conservative" with libertarian sympathies.^[1]

While in high school, Breitbart was a pizza delivery driver; he sometimes delivered to celebrities such as Judge Reinhold.^[6] He earned a B.A. in American studies from Tulane University in 1991, graduating with "no sense of [his] future whatsoever".^[7] His early jobs included a stint at cable channel E! Entertainment Television, working for the company's online magazine, and some time in film production.^[5]

Public life[link]

Authorship, research and reporting[link]

In 1995 Breitbart saw the Drudge Report and was so impressed that he emailed Matt Drudge. Breitbart said, "I thought what he was doing was by far the coolest thing on the Internet. And I still do."^[3] Breitbart described himself as "Matt Drudge's bitch"^[8] and selected and posted links to other news wire sources. Later Matt Drudge introduced him to Arianna Huffington (when she was still a Republican)^[5] and Breitbart subsequently assisted her in creating her website.

Breitbart's work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, National Review Online and the Weekly Standard Online, among others. He wrote a weekly column for The Washington Times, which also appeared at Real Clear Politics. Breitbart also co-wrote the book Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon with Mark Ebner, a book that is highly critical of U.S. celebrity culture.^[9] On January 19, 2011, the conservative gay rights group GOProud announced Breitbart had joined its Advisory Council.^[10]

In April 2011 Grand Central Publishing released Breitbart's book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, in which he discussed his own political evolution and the part he took in the rise of new media, most notably at the Drudge Report and The Huffington Post.

In June 2011 Breitbart was involved in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal when his websites broke the story that Weiner was sending women revealing photographs of himself.^[11]

Commentaries[link]

Breitbart appeared as a commentator on Real Time with Bill Maher and Dennis Miller. In 2004 he was a guest commentator on Fox News Channel's morning show and frequently appeared as a guest panelist on Fox News's late night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. Breitbart also appeared as a commentator in the 2004 documentary Michael Moore Hates America.^[12]

On October 22, 2009, Breitbart appeared on the C-SPAN program Washington Journal. He gave his opinions on the mainstream media, Hollywood, the Obama Administration and his personal political views, having heated debates with several callers.^[1]

In the hours immediately following Senator Ted Kennedy's death, Breitbart called Kennedy a "villain", a "duplicitous bastard", a "prick"^[13] and "a special pile of human excrement".^[14][15]

In February 2010 Breitbart received the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. During his acceptance speech, he responded directly to accusations by New York Times reporter Kate Zernike that Jason Mattera, a young conservative activist, had been using "racial tones" in his allusions to President Barack Obama, and had spoken in a "Chris Rock voice". From the podium, Breitbart called Zernike "a despicable human being" for having made such allegations about Mattera's New York accent.^[16] At the same conference, Breitbart was also filmed saying to journalist Max Blumenthal that he found him to be "a jerk", and "a despicable human being" due to a blog entry posted by Blumenthal.^[17]

Activism[link]

Breitbart often appeared as a speaker at Tea Party movement events across the U.S. For example, Breitbart was a keynote speaker at the first National Tea Party Convention at Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville on February 6, 2010.^[18] Breitbart later involved himself in a controversy over homophobic and alleged racial slurs being used at a March 20, 2010, rally at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., by asserting that slurs were never used, and that "It was a set-up" by Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party. Breitbart offered to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund "for any audio/video footage of the N-word being hurled", claiming that the several Congressmen made it up. Breitbart insisted Congressman John Lewis and several other witnesses were forced to lie, concluding that "Nancy Pelosi did a great disservice to a great civil rights icon by thrusting him out there to perform this mischievous task. His reputation is now on the line as a result of her desperation to take down the Tea Party movement."^[19][20]

Websites[link]

Breitbart launched a number of websites, including Breitbart.com,^[22] BigHollywood.com,^[23] BigGovernment.com,^[24] BigJournalism.com,^[25] and BigPeace.com.^[26]

Breitbart launched his first website as a news site; it is sometimes linked to by the Drudge Report and other websites. It has wire stories from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Fox News, PR Newswire, and U.S. Newswire, as well as direct links to a number of major international newspapers. Its Blog & "Network" links tend to run to the right within the U.S. political spectrum (e.g., National Review and Townhall.com). The site also has a search engine powered by Lingospot and a finance channel powered by FinancialContent. In 2007, Breitbart launched a video blog, Breitbart.tv.^[27]

In 2008 Breitbart launched the website "Big Hollywood," a "group blog" driven by some who work within Los Angeles, with contributions from a variety of writers, including politically conservative entertainment-industry professionals.^{[citation needed]} The site was an outgrowth of the Breitbart's Washington Times "Big Hollywood" column included issues conservatives faced working in Hollywood.^[28] In 2009, the site used audio from a secretly recorded conference call to accuse the National Endowment of the Arts of encouraging artists to create work in support of Barack Obama's domestic policy agenda.^[29][30]

Breitbart launched BigGovernment.com on September 10, 2009.^[31] He hired Mike Flynn, a former government affairs specialist at Reason Foundation,^[32] as Editor-in-Chief of Big Government.^[33] The site premiered with hidden camera video footage taken by Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now offices in various cities, attracting nationwide attention resulting in the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.

In January 2010, Breitbart launched Big Journalism. He told Mediaite:^[34] "Our goal at Big Journalism is to hold the mainstream media's feet to the fire. There are a lot of stories that they simply don't cover, either because it doesn't fit their world view, or because they're literally innocent of any knowledge that the story even exists, or because they are a dying organization, short-staffed, and thus can't cover stuff like they did before." Big Journalism was edited by Michael A. Walsh, a former journalism professor and Time magazine music critic.^[34] It is now currently edited by Dana Loesch. The site has a fictional contributor named "Retracto, the Correction Alpaca" who posts items requesting corrections from the traditional media.^[35]

BigPeace.com debuted July 4, 2010. The site covers topics such as international issues and foreign policy, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism, Islamic extremism, espionage, border security, and energy issues.

Controversies[link]

Anthony Weiner[link]

On May 28, 2011, Breitbart posted a sexually explicit photo on his BigJournalism website of New York Representative Anthony Weiner obtained through Weiner's Twitter account.^[36] Weiner initially denied that he had sent a 21-year-old female college student the link to the photograph, but after questions developed, he admitted to inappropriate online relationships. On June 6, 2011, Breitbart reported other photos Weiner had sent, including one that was sexually graphic. On June 8, 2011, the sexually graphic photo was leaked after Breitbart participated in a radio interview with hosts Opie and Anthony, though Breitbart stated that the photo was published without his permission.^[37] Weiner subsequently resigned from his congressional seat on June 21, 2011.

Shirley Sherrod[link]

In July 2010 Breitbart was accused of smearing USDA official Shirley Sherrod with the viral video "Proof NAACP Awards Racism". Breitbart's video showed Sherrod speaking at a NAACP fundraising dinner in March 2010 admitting to a racial reluctance to help a white farmer get government aid. The NAACP condemned Sherrod video comments and approved her July 19 dismissal from government service. After being criticized for presenting Sherrod out of context, Breitbart posted the full 40-minute video of the speech.^{[38][39][40][41]} In the full video Sherrod said the reluctance to help a white man was wrong, and she had ended up assisting him. Following the release of the full video, the NAACP also reversed their rebuke of Sherrod,^[39][40], and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized and offered Sherrod a new government position.^[42] In 2011, Sherrod sued Breitbart for defamation,^[43] Breibart said that the point of the piece was not to target Sherrod, but said the NAACP audience's reception of the parts of the speech demonstrated the same racism the NAACP's President had accused The Tea Party of harboring.^[44]

ACORN undercover videos[link]

Breitbart was also involved in the 2009 ACORN video controversy. Hannah Giles^[45][46] posed as a prostitute seeking assistance while James O'Keefe portrayed her boyfriend, and clandestinely videotaped meetings with ACORN staff.^[47] Subsequent criminal investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the California Attorney General found the videos were heavily edited in an attempt to make ACORN's responses "appear more sinister",^[48][49][50] and contributed to the group's demise.^[51][52]

GOProud[link]

Breitbart was also embroiled in a controversy within the conservative movement related to the participation of gay group GOProud in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual conference held in Washington, D.C., by the American Conservative Union. In 2011 he was the primary host of a party that served to "welcome" the "homocons" to the convention (though it was the second year they had been participants). This flew in the face of a boycott staged by a few social conservative groups that were offended by the inclusion of GOProud within the conservative fold. Writer, producer, and publisher Roger L. Simon referred to the group as a "game-changer" for the Republican party, and asserted that it represented a turning point in the appeal that the conservative movement might hold for young people. Breitbart was on the Advisory Board of GOProud until he stepped down in the wake of the group's inadvertent outing of a senior Rick Perry aide.^[53][54]

Confrontation with Occupy protesters at CPAC 2012[link]

In February 2012 a YouTube video showed Breitbart yelling at Occupy D.C. protesters outside a Washington D.C. hotel hosting a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The video showed security escorting Breitbart back to the hotel while he told the protestors to "behave yourself", and alluding to reported assaults of women at Occupy encampments, he repeatedly yelled "stop raping people" and called the protestors "filthy, filthy, raping, murdering freaks!”. David Carr said with the incident Briebart had caused his last "viral storm on the Web".^[55][56]

Personal life[link]

Breitbart was married to Susannah Bean, the daughter of actor Orson Bean, and had four children.^[3][57]

Death[link]

On February 9, 2012, Breitbart while in Washington, DC was quoted as saying, “wait til they see what happens March first.” Breitbart was referring to his plan to release "damning" footage of President Obama that he had been promising to reveal throughout the month of February.^[58] However, on March 1, 2012, Breitbart died at the UCLA Medical Center after he collapsed while walking in Brentwood.^[59] He was 43 years old. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office showed that he had cardiomegaly and died of heart failure.^[60] The toxicology report showed "No prescription or illicit drugs were detected. The blood alcohol was .04%. No significant trauma was present and foul play is not suspected."^[60] Personal friend of Breitbart, Bill Whittle, had said that Breitbart had a "serious heart attack" just months before his passing.^[61]

In remembrance, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich praised Breitbart.^[62] Santorum called Breitbart's passing "a huge loss" that strongly affected him,^[62][63] while Romney said Breitbart was a "fearless conservative", and Gingrich called him "the most innovative pioneer in conservative activist social media in America...."^[62]

His funeral was held March 6, 2012, at a Jewish cemetery in West Los Angeles. Attendees included his father-in-law Orson Bean, Matt Drudge, Herman Cain, Thaddeus McCotter, Greg Gutfeld, Ed Morrissey, Guy Benson, and Rob Long.^[64][65][66]

Authored books[link]

• Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World. Grand Central Publishing. April 15, 2011. ISBN 978-0-446-57282-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=SUPaO3y-hqkC&pg=PT2&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• With Ebner, Mark C. (March 10, 2005). Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon – The Case Against Celebrity. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-70624-3. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andrew Breitbart

	United States portal
	Biography portal
	Politics portal

• Official website
• Andrew Breitbart on Facebook
• Andrew Breitbart on Twitter
• Andrew Breitbart at the Internet Movie Database
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Works by or about Andrew Breitbart in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Andrew Breitbart at Find a Grave

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

Brian Sussman is an American Emmy Award-winning television journalist and conservative talk radio host in the San Francisco Bay area. He currently hosts the Morning Show on radio station KSFO.^[1]

Personal background[link]

Sussman was born in 1956 in East Los Angeles, California. During his youth, his family moved to Glenview, Illinois, outside of Chicago, Illinois. He attended Glenbrook South High School, graduating in 1974. After high school, he went on to study at the University of Missouri. He is married to the former Sue Rittenhouse, and together, they have three sons and one daughter, three of whom were adopted. Sussman and his wife have been quoted saying, "We have four kids, three were adopted, but we forget which three."^[2]

Professional background[link]

Television career[link]

Sussman is known in the San Francisco Bay area as the former meteorologist working for over ten years with the CBS affiliate KPIX, appearing during the evening newscast. In 2000, Sussman left KPIX, shortly after the retirement of longtime anchor and local personality Dave McElhatton to start a career in talk radio with KSFO. In 2001, he returned to KPIX temporarily as the 11 p.m. weather forecaster.

Radio career[link]

In 2000, Sussman left KPIX, shortly after the retirement of longtime anchor and local personality Dave McElhatton to start his talk radio career on the KSFO program Right Thinking from the Left Coast.^[3] He additionally has hosted his own conservative talk radio show, The Brian Sussman Show, offered weekdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT on KSFO.^[3]

Sussman hosts the Morning Show on KSFO from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. PT, Monday through Friday, having replaced long-time host Lee Rodgers on February 19, 2010. He was formally assisted by Tom Benner, who provided traffic reports under the name of "Officer Vic".^[4] Further assistance on the show is provided by business reporter "Big Buck" McQuillan from The Wall Street Journal.^{[citation needed]}

Published works[link]

Sussman is the author of Climategate: A Veteran Meteorologist Exposes The Global Warming Scam, which was released nationally in the United States and through on-line sales channels on Earth Day, April 22, 2010.^[5] In the book, Brian argues that climate change is independent of human activities.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website of Brian Sussman

Greg Gutfeld (born (1964-09-12)September 12, 1964) is an American television personality, political satirist, humorist, magazine editor and blogger. Gutfeld is the host of Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on the Fox News Channel. He is also one of five co-hosts/panelists on Fox News political talk-show The Five, which debuted on July 11, 2011. Gutfeld identifies politically as libertarian.^[3] Gutfeld (2009): "I became a conservative by being around liberals and I became a libertarian by being around conservatives. You realize that there’s something distinctly in common between the two groups, the left and the right; the worst part of each of them is the moralizing."^[4]

Personal life[link]

Gutfeld was born and raised in San Mateo, California. He attended Junípero Serra High School^[5] and the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1987.^[6] He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Elena Moussa, whom he met in London. He previously lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania for approximately ten years.

Career[link]

After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English, he interned at The American Spectator, as an assistant to R. Emmett Tyrrell. He then got his first full-time job as a staff writer at Prevention magazine. In 1995, he became a staff writer at Men's Health.

He was promoted to editor-in-chief of Men's Health in 1999. In 2000, he was fired by Mens Health for putting his mother in the magazine and replaced by David Zinczenko, who took the magazine in a different direction, departing from the shirtless buff guy to using celebrities on the cover. Yet as David Zinczenko took Mens Health to new heights, Gutfeld himself rebounded quickly. Soon after he became editor-in-chief of Stuff. At Stuff, the circulation increased from 750,000 to 1.2 million during his tenure. In 2003, he hired several little people to attend a conference of the "Magazine Publishers of America" on the topic of "buzz," with the instructions to be as loud and annoying as possible. The stunt did generate publicity for Stuff, but it led to Gutfeld being fired from the magazine soon afterward; he was then made head of "brand development" at Dennis Publishing.^[6]

He helmed Maxim magazine in the UK, from 2004 to 2006.^[6] However, Gutfeld's contract expired without renewal after losses in readership under his tenure. His final year at Maxim saw a loss of about 40,000 readers.^[7] On the December 16, 2009 episode of Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, Gutfeld's former boss, Maxim owner Felix Dennis, stated that Gutfeld was fired as a result of a Maxim story entitled "The Ikea Sex Party", for which the publication was sued.

Gutfeld was one of the first posting contributors to the The Huffington Post from its launch in 2005 until October 2008; frequent targets of his sarcasm included his colleagues Deepak Chopra, Cenk Uygur, Arianna Huffington, and Huffington Post bloggers. Many of his Huffington Post commentaries/blogs are still available on its website.^[8] He currently blogs at his own site, "The Daily Gut."

Since February 5, 2007, Gutfeld has been host of the hour-long Fox News Channel late-night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, which airs at 3 AM Eastern Time. Since the show began, Bill Schulz has been Gutfeld's sidekick and Andy Levy has been the show's ombudsman. Schulz is a former colleague of Gutfeld's from Stuff magazine and Andy Levy was a blogger at The Huffington Post who caught Gutfeld's attention with his funny postings.

In July 11, 2011 Gutfeld became a co-host/panelist, along with Juan Williams, Dana Perino, Andrew Napolitano and others, on the Fox News political-opinion program 'The Five'. The panel for the first four episodes consisted of Gutfeld, Andrea Tantaros, Bob Beckel, Dana Perino, and Eric Bolling. The program airs weekdays at 5 PM ET/2 PM PT.^[9]

He also appeared on the show Louie in the episode titled "Come On, God". He plays himself hosting a parody show called Real Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. His show is hosting a debate between Louis C.K. & Ellen Farber (Liz Holtan). Ellen is the spokeswoman for an organization called Christians Against Masturbation, while Louie is the only person they could find to defend masturbation. The episode aired on August 11, 2011 on FX.

Controversial Remarks[link]

In March 2009 Gutfeld faced a public outcry in Canada after he, Bill Schulz and guest panelists of Red Eye mocked a Canadian military official's remarks that Canada's military could take a year-long 'synchronized break' from its role in the War in Afghanistan.^[10] Canadian Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay demanded an apology from Fox News, which Gutfeld then provided a day later, saying in a statement that "It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize."^[11]

In August 2010 Gutfeld made news by proposing to open a gay bar for Muslims next door to the planned Park51 Mosque in New York City, sometimes referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque".^[12]

Books[link]

• Gutfeld, Greg (1997-11-15). The Scorecard: The Official Point System for Keeping Score in the Relationship Game. Henry Holt & Company. pp. 182. ISBN 978-0-8050-5450-7. 
• Gutfeld, Greg (1999-01-01). The Scorecard at Work: The Official Point System for Keeping Score on the Job. Henry Holt & Company. pp. 160. ISBN 978-0-8050-5865-9. 
• Gutfeld, Greg (2007-11-15). The New Millennium's Early Years: My Life as a Dark Brooding Vigilante and How the Lone Streets and the Thrill of Violence Became my Only Friends and Lovers. Henry Holt & Company. pp. 182. ISBN 978-0-8050-5450-7. 
• Gutfeld, Greg (2008-01-21). Lessons from the Land of Pork Scratchings. Simon & Schuster. pp. 224. ISBN 978-1-84737-066-2. http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=65&pid=592860. 
• Gutfeld, Greg (2010-05-25). The Bible of Unspeakable Truths. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 304. ISBN 978-0-446-55230-1. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780446552301.htm.