Rumorgate: Quit living off Andrew’s Legacy, You Coattail-Riding Clowns

The morning I found out Andrew had passed; I thought it was all a joke. I thought “God, what’s he up to now. Is this some horrible prank?” and then I realized, quickly after texts and phone calls that this was not a joke. And that he really had died. I had seen Andrew a few weeks before at a local grassroots club’s monthly meeting. He was his usual jovial self. Cracking jokes, his trademark snarky approach to dealing with the left in full force.  The day he passed away I was approached by a news site and blog to write about Andrew and the times we shared planning events together over the years. I was asked by an editor for this site specifically because I was not spewing the “Andrew was my BFF” stuff all over my Facebook, rather sharing happier times spent with Andrew planning appearances and events together (the piece I was asked to write about Andrew after he died) In 2009 at the first Tea Party rally we had in Los Angeles, Andrew was one of the only credible people who would cover my event because at the time no one thought of the movement as something worth paying attention to. And when a now infamous event between a friend and a congressman’s wife went down in the valley a few years back, Andrew was the first person I called to get his opinion on what to do going forward. He too was another kid from LA who would complain about how badly KROQ’s music selection declined and loved the Dodgers as much as I did. For a few days after his passing I found it too infuriating to get myself online to read the horrible things his haters had to say. My blood boiled.

But here’s the thing. For as much as the haters enraged me, the sudden “OH MY GOD I WAS ANDREW’S BFF” tweets and posts made my blood boil worse. You see this often when someone of influence passes away. You have scavengers looking to eat off the carrion of the dead hoping they can nourish themselves with the deceased’s name ID and legacy. Everyone wants to stake their claim in being the best friend, the confidant, and the most emotionally distraught of the bunch. I knew Andrew, I spent a lot of time planning events with him and convention appearances with him. I would venture to call him a friend even, but I certainly never ever claimed to be his right hand like so many posers have.  And so many of these very posers have been engaging in publishing wild irresponsible speculation on personal blogs.  How can we ever claim Conservative New Media to be better than the Mainstream Media if we engage in the same antics, biases, or political opportunism that the liberals in mainstream media do?

This whole situation has had me thinking for months about Andrew’s legacy. His website and his new media pioneering spirit will always be a big part of who Andrew was. But the only people who get claim Andrew’s legacy are his family. Period. Not bloggers, not twitter heads, not me, not you.  No one here at The Trenches seeks to be the next Andrew. You know why? Because there was only one Andrew. No one at The Trenches wants to live off his legacy either. Know why? Because we look to trail blaze our own paths. We are here to take the fight to the left and expose their operatives who’ve been trying to take over organizations on the right from the inside for years. If you read our articles and look at the screen shots you will see for yourself that we seek nothing more than to stay focused on the left. Not engage in petty online wars that distract us from our mission.

Here Adam Baldwin tries to smear us with lies. If the following statement were true, ask Adam Baldwin why he continued to pal around with and invite Brooks Bayne to dinners at Brooks’ favorite BBQ hangout in L.A. weeks after this supposed attempt to take over Breitbart.com. Adam, no one’s buying it, save for the people who don’t pay attention, but that’s the point of smear campaigns isn’t it?

And then Adam becomes privy to the fraud that is Jay Batman due to our efforts:

So to sum it up, when a mole closet lefty is found trying to take down a conservative operation we out that mole. It has been said that sunlight is the best disinfectant. And in order to be a decent fake, one has got to be a good actor to pull it off. Don’t you think? Andrew will forever live in our hearts and thoughts. He was a friend and mentor to many and he will never be forgotten. But we here at The Trenches seek to create our own legacies based upon Andrew’s influence. I think we all want to contribute our unique visions, perspectives, and talents, which were all inspired by Andrew in some way, in service to people who desire to protect and restore American values and Constitutional government, just like he did. Why? Because that is what Andrew would have wanted.

About Ashley Ingram

Ingram has written for numerous blogs including Flashreport, California Political News and Views and has been featured in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Daily News, and other newspapers across the state and country. Ingram frequently appears as a guest on radio shows such as John and Ken, NPR’s Larry Mantle Show, Kevin James, Doug McIntyre, TJ McCormack on LA Talk Radio, and various other shows to give commentary mainly on California, youth, and national politics.

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