Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Republican quotes KKK founder on the House floor.

Keith's "Worst Person in the World" tonight was Ted Poe (R-TX), who quoted Nathan Bedford Forrest on the House floor today, referring to him a "successful Confederate general." Problem is, Forrest also founded the Ku Klux Klan.

Probably a bad source to mine for quotes, don'tcha think? Carpetbagger notes,
Most lists of the worst Americans in U.S. history include Nathan Bedford Forrest near the top. That’s what happens when someone creates the KKK to terrorize freed slaves and their allies, after taking up arms against the United States. What on earth would possess a GOP lawmaker to quote Forrest on the House floor?
Here's the funny part: wingnuts are actually defending Poe. Says Hot Air,
Ace, surprisingly, chalks it up to ignorance of the context: the (mis-)quote in question belongs to Nathan Bedford Forrest, who, in addition to being a terrorist and a moral monster, was an almost universally recognized military genius. (If you’ve seen Ken Burns’s documentary on the Civil War, you’ll remember Shelby Foote talking about him.) “Git thar fustest with the mostest” is his most famous military aphorism. Ted Poe, the congressman, was quoting him on a basic point of strategy, not a point of morals.
See, that clears it all up! What's the big deal? Poe invoked the words of the monster who founded the most violent and racist terrorist organization in US history just on strategy, not morals.

I mean, get a grip you dishonest moonbats.

For example, Poe could've also said,
Strength lies not in defence but in attack.
True, that's a quote by Adolf Hitler, who did a lot of bad things (but some good stuff too!). But it would've been fine, really, because he'd be quoting Hitler in the context of military strategy.

Adds Hot Air,
This is a useful example of why it’s pointless to engage the left. Not only do they act in bad faith, they justify it by attributing bad faith to their target.
A Republican quotes approvingly a racist terrorist, but it's "bad faith" to call him on it.

Freaking hilarious.

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