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Conservative Provocateur Andrew Breitbart Shows Up at Occupy L.A., Union Member Warns Protesters 'He's Trying to Make You Look Bad'
Andrew Breitbart, the conservative internet provocateur whose videos and pictures played a role in bringing down Anthony Weiner, Shirley Sherrod and ACORN, showed up to this week's Occupy L.A. protest.
During his visit, Breitbart encountered a self-professed socialist who engages in a conversation about her best friend in prison and the prison-industrial complex, a protester screaming that corporations need to pay taxes, a member of a nurse's union arguing that the event wasn't just a union event and a bunch of protesters giving a thumbs-down when Breitbart asked whether they would offer a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to capitalism.
So he encountered exactly what you might have expected at an anti-corporate protest.
A member from a local SEIU chapter followed Breitbart around, warning protesters: "He's trying to make you look bad."
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Breitbart's videos have made a lot of people look bad. Slate columnist Jack Shafer called his approach "part 60 Minutes, two parts Punk'd, three parts Ali G, and four parts Michael Moore, all bubbling under a whipped topping of yellow journalism." But whether Breitbart succeeded in this latest round is your call:
Ironically, Breitbart, who has focused a lot of his attention on the overlap between liberal causes and Hollywood, might be one of the most nationally-recognizable personalities to show up to the Occupy L.A. protests. Celebs at Occupy L.A. have been far and few between — whether that matters at all is debatable. Former M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell showed up to an anti-war protest this morning, and Cornell West and Tavis Smiley are supposed to show up tonight. Only Farrell really counts as "Hollywood," though. On the other hand, Occupy Wall Street counts Roseanne, Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins as its supporters.
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