Illustration: Nathan Manire; source photo: Getty

I met Andrew Breitbart at CPAC 2009.  Pamela Meister of Family Security Matters and I were getting ready to head back to our hotel after a day filled with speakers and panel discussions.  We had packed up our computer gear from our spot on Bloggers Row to head to Pamela Geller’s reception for Geert Wilders where we met the Dutch Parliamentarian, along with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch (who co-hosted the event with Geller and Andrew Bostom), and Lt. Col. Allen West who was then and is now running for Congress from Florida’s 22nd District.

Yeah, I’m doing some major name dropping here, but it’s all true.  CPAC is a “who’s who” of the Conservatives’ political world.

I was late leaving the Geert Wilders reception, and Pam Meister was already waiting for me in the hotel’s luxurious lobby.  She was seated in an overstuffed easy chair situated in a little grouping which included a sofa and a matching chair opposite hers.  In the center was a coffee table.  Two men sat at either end of the sofa.  One was typing into his laptop.  The other was a lion of a man, with a mane of curly hair that framed an impressive head.

When I approached her, she leaned in and whispered “Is that Andrew Breitbart?”

“Where?” I asked.

“Right here, on the couch!”

I looked over at him.  “I don’t know,” I said.  “Who is he?”

I laugh now to think of it. EVERYONE knows who Breitbart is.

I suggested she ask him if he was was Andrew B.  “Oh no!  she said, somewhat panicked.  I couldn’t do that!”

Pam is kinda shy.

So I walked to the other chair and sat, waiting for the gentlemen’s conversation to end before barging in.

“Excuse me, but are you Andrew Breitbart?” I asked.

He smiled a friendly smile. “Yes, I am.”

I introduced myself and Pam, who was already on her feet with her business card.  Pam is kinda shy.  LOL!

We told him we were writers, and he invited us to write for Big Hollywood.  The two other BIGS hadn’t been born yet.

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Since then, Pam, an excellent writer, has been a regular contributor to the BIGS.  My contributions have been more sporadic, many in collaboration with Kristinn Taylor (our Code Pink series at Big Government), and my producer Dave Logan (Big Hollywood).

I’ll be with Andrew again in Searchlight NV on March 27th, where we’ll both participate in the Tea Party Express III national tour kickoff.

Yesterday, I read RS McCain’s piece about a lengthy profile on Andrew Breitbart, one of many this media lion has been subject of.  The piece, written by Noah Schactman begins here.  Read it.  Breitbart is a rising star who’s already reached amazing heights in the New Media firmament.  And his star is still climbing.  If I was Pinch and the gang in the network newsrooms, I’d be more than worried.

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