"I'm going to use that (N) word!"- March 4, 2001
Posted on 05/10/2007 3:55:10 PM PDT by Baladas
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, has ignited ire from bloggers nationwide and inspired TV personality Keith Olbermann to label him one of the "worst in the world."
It's because Poe, a Texas history enthusiast from his days as a Harris County prosecutor and judge, quoted Ku Klux Klan leader and Civil War Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest during a House floor speech about the war in Iraq.
Poe stated that Bedford Forrest's military strategy was "Get there firstest with the mostest" — a variation on the "Git thar fustest with the mostest" quote attributed to Forrest.
Historians disagree about whether the general ever said those exact words. Regardless, Poe's words rippled across the Capitol and online, where bloggers accused the congressman of racism for offering Forrest as a font of wisdom.
"Congress needs to quit talking about supporting the troops and put money where our mouths seem to be," Poe said to the House. "Nathan Bedford Forrest, successful Confederate general, said it best about winning and victory and the means to do so. He said 'Get there firstest with the mostest.' "
Poe's spokeswoman DeeAnn Dunaway Thigpen said the lawmaker was trying to appeal to Congress to give "troops the money they need." No racism was intended, she said.
Liberal sites thinkprogress.com and thecarpetbaggerreport.com, promptly labeled the speech scandalous. MSNBC's Olbermann joined in Tuesday night.
"See, Bedford Forrest is kind of a problem," Olbermann quipped. "He was called a guerrilla leader. In retrospect, many of his military actions were reminiscent of terrorism. And, oh, by the way, after the war, he became the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan."
Has anyone quoted Byrd lately?
The left...all of it is CRAZY! How can they live with themselves always being that down...on everything?
The HEADLINE of today’s Beaumont Enterprise is “Grand wiz words spell woe for Poe.” I thought Poe had been verbally attacked by Senator Robert Byrd.
Did he quote Sen Byrd?
"Pritty, pritty, pritty...."
Will that do? lol!
What better illustrates the hypocrisy of the media. A Republican is blasted for quoting a Grand Wizard. The Dems get a pass for having one as a Senator.
Olbermann is a jerk.
Well said!
And they're proud of it.
Actually it is MSM lazy incompetence, the phrase “Wall of Seperation of Church and State” was not commonly used whatsoever, until a Supreme Court ruling quoted it.
That ruling was written by one Cheif Justice Hugo Black, he wrote “Seperation of Church and state” in 1946, so when the ACLU etc say “A wall of Seperation” do your part and remind them that a KKK member wrote that, and and do ask why they are quoting a dead racist?
The Union rhetoric wasn’t as flashy but we know who won
In the 1994 motion picture Forrest Gump, the eponymous Tom Hanks character states that he was named after his ancestor General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and there is a photo montage showing the general, also played by Hanks, in military uniform and Ku Klux Klan robes.
Keith Olbermann to label him one of the "worst in the world."
Olbermann does that all the time. He is a champion of hyperbole. No one watches his cruddy show on MSNBC, so he needs other media outlets to quote him for anyone to know what idiotic thing he said now.
“”See, Bedford Forrest is kind of a problem,” Olbermann quipped. “He was called a guerrilla leader. In retrospect, many of his military actions were reminiscent of terrorism. And, oh, by the way, after the war, he became the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Olberman needs to go back to school and learn his Southern history. He doesn’t have a freakin’ clue as to what he’s talking about.
We also know which side lasted for four years with just about every disadvantage imaginable. The south really shouldn't have lasted longer than four-six months.
1) The phrase “get their furstest with the mostest” is a well known military axiom that has been quoted for over 100 years.
2) Forest was a great general, and Poe was quoting him on military matters.
3) Evil men are quoted all the time without the speaker having to apologize for it. Stalin said “How many divisions has the Pope”? Is anyone who uses the phrase now a Communist?
4) We could be mercilessly satirizing the left over this, but since most Americans are historically illiterate or too stupid to understand the sheer ignorance/craziness of Olbermann’s remark it will quickly fade.
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