As the Wire reported yesterday, much of the conservative reaction to the passing of Ted Kennedy--long a political foe to many conservatives--was muted, respectful, or quiet. There have even been tributes, as Republican Senator Orrin Hatch (UT) released a song dedicated to his liberal friend on YouTube. But for others the gloves have come off.

Last night, Andrew Breitbart--founder of the conservative site Big Hollywood and a disciple of Matthew Drudge--loosed a steady stream of vituperation against Kennedy over his Twitter feed. Here's a sampling of his early production:

• Ted Kennedy is the Rosetta Stone of why BIG GOVERNMENT is evil & how BIG MEDIA is its greatest enabler.
• If you cant say something nice about a person then say mean things about them instead. Especially if they are unapologetic manslaughterers.
• This duplicitous bastard spit on GWB's face when he reached across party lines. Twas a grade school trick. Even til the end, he was a prick.

Breitbart's attacks were met by other right-leaning commentators with a mixture of cheers and boos. For hours, Breitbart fought critics in his Twitter feed, insisting he was "willing to stand by each and every tweet" because "this isn't about politics." One writer, Carol Lynch from Maine, became the focus of Breitbart's swashbuckling gusto. Toward the end of the night, she debated with Breitbart for two hours:

• Lynch: Did you know Ted Kennedy? Did you know anyone who benefited from his help and support? I did. Sen Kenn fought for us.
• Breitbart: And OJ Simpson gave me a polite glance once and Charles Manson makes my license plates. So?
• Lynch: BTW, I'm highly educated, lived in Mass, and voted for Kennedy. I'm not an idiot -I voted for him BECAUSE of my education.
• Breitbart: That's quite a compelling narrative. Throw in basic morality and you are a whole being!
• Lynch: I hope one day you have enough happiness that it crowds out your bitterness, cynicism and anger. I wish you well.
• Breitbart: My bitterness, cynicism & anger is isolated to leftist worship of false prophets who rule over our lives & create MORE harm.

But Lynch kept wrestling, and eventually, a little light eventually broke through. Breitbart softened and sounded almost conciliatory as he headed to bed:

• Breitbart: Ill grant him Skakelian complexities beyond comprehension. But I dont see whats so impressive with mispending others' $ for two score years.
  
• Breitbart:gnight. cant stand him. am usually lighthearted to a fault. he turned me right almost singlehandedly. i was bound to erupt.

It's probably just fatigue, but Breitbart hasn't tweeted angrily about Kennedy since.

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