The Mirror

Breitbart Scribe Begs Strangers For A Loan

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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Don’t worry Toto – Dorothy is on her way home.

Breitbart‘s newly rehired reporter Lee Stranahan is happily back at the site that previously hired him and fired him. Before he was re-hired, he was fired, and also previously quit. (It’s complicated.)

Why let past petty squabbles ruin a promising future?

Stranahan finds solace in the fact that its founder, the late Andrew Breitbart, remains his hero. He desperately wants to carry on his memory.

But despite his giddy return, Stranahan last week had to beg friends and complete strangers to fund his trip home from South Dakota to Dallas.

Kind of like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

If only going home was as easy as clicking red sparkly shoes together three times.

The fundraising actually worked. Stranahan raised enough money to get home to Dallas, but he’s still holding out for more.

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Instead of outright begging strangers for money, the Breitbart News reporter is calling it “a loan” and promises to try to pay back the money within six months. A perk of your generosity: He’ll send you a Christmas present. He says he needs $3,000 to to meet his needs for the rest of the month.

Among the many reasons he says he needs the money is because he’s sick. The gist is he has Diabetes and his new medication is killing his appetite, tiring him out, hurting his eyesight and making him vomit. Above all, he says, he needs home cooked meals.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a proofreader.

I highlighted his health symptoms. (Bolding is mine.)

“I’ve gotten very sick,” he wrote. “I’ve been ill for a couple of weeks. It’s gotten worse in the past week. Part of that is due to new mediction [sic] I’m on for my diaberes [sic], which has lowered by blood sugar (yay!) but killed my appetite and made me weak (boo!) plus side effects like vomiting. I’m sick, not nearly as productive as usual and I desperately miss my family. I’ve been so weak recently that I haven’t been able to do the usual hustling I do to keep the bills paid. I can write , sleep and that’s about it. Even walking has been difficult and the shift in my blood sugar has made things like my eyesight worse for the moment, actually. One big reason I want to get back home to my wife and kids (aside from missing them like crazy) is to be able to get better, quicker and have some homecooked meals. I’ve also been so lightheaded that I’m honestly worried about passing out, alone here in my hotel room. And that’s just not a pretty picture, is it?”

He explained why he’s not getting the money from Breitbart. 

“I won’t be paid from the new gig for about three weeks,” he wrote on the loan site. “That’s perfectly normal, of course, but it puts me in a bind. So, I need to bridge the gap until my first paycheck comes in.”

He expressed his heartfelt gratitude. “Any amount is fine,” he said. “You’ll be paying via PayPal and choosing the amount yourself.”

And finally, a blessing.

“Thanks again and God bless.”