“The argument is: If government controlled fewer things, this would happen less often. There’d be fewer opportunities for these people to profit at government’s expense.

Breitbart’s Big House The conservative media firestarter opens up shop in Washington with a major story to sell. By David Weigel|Posted Monday, Nov. 14, 2011, at 7:15 PM ET 26 Is this a break from the usual Big Government/Big Journalism method? That’s a question for Joel Pollak, a former Republican candidate for Congress, the editor of the Big blogs since September. (Breitbart is the sites’ publisher.) He made the rounds at the house party, passing on little hints of what the site will do next, why it’s all-in on the Schweizer stories. “It’s bipartisan but conservative,” explained Pollak. “The argument is: If government controlled fewer things, this would happen less often. There’d be fewer opportunities for these people to profit at government’s expense. I think this book can start a debate on those terms. Look, it doesn’t shy away from attacking Republicans. If anything, it kind of taps into some of the fervor that should be motivating Occupy Wall Street. This is corruption at the highest level.” Before 60 Minutes started, Breitbart gave a couple of reporters a tour of the house. The spacious guest room at the front has a massive, well-lit painting of the 16th president, so it’s naturally become the “Lincoln bedroom.” The walls in the living room are painted with a pretty Mediterranean scene; they blend nicely with a photo of a soldier deployed in Iraq, posing in one of Saddam Hussein’s vacant thrones. (It’s Steve Bannon’s daughter.) Past the kitchen is a carriage house that Breitbart plans to use. Advertisement “This is where I’m going to do my tweeting,” he said. When the show started, so did Breitbart’s MacBook Air. There’s footage of 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft grilling Nancy Pelosi at a press conference. The Kroft story didn’t hit on everything Breitbart, Schweizer, and the rest of the Big editors plan to use. It did enough. “Damning, damning!” laughed Breitbart when footage of a frustrated Nancy Pelosi came onscreen. Kroft went into the Bachus story, detailing some of the options the congressman traded during the 2008 meltdown. In the carriage house, Breitbart moved his computer so that reporters could see his latest tweet. Step down, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Al)! You are a disgrace. MORE DETAILS COMING AT @BIGGOVT Breitbart kept the computer open, tweeting and retweeting, trying to build a critical mass of followers who agree with him. It has worked before. Back in the main house, Schweizer was politely accepting kudos, as low-key as Breitbart isn’t. 60 Minutes “did a good job,” he said. “I wish that they’d gone into more detail on the Bachus stuff, but they only had so much time.” He later left for New York, where he was on the Monday morning shows on CBS, ABC, and NBC. The rest of Breitbart’s team stuck around the house, phones and MacBooks open, working the story.