Wash. Times omits mention of Forrest as KKK leader.
By on May 9th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Wash. Times omits mention of Forrest as KKK leader.
In a speech on the House floor on Monday, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) (mis)quoted “successful Confederate general” Nathan Bedford Forrest, but left out the fact that Forrest was also one of the original Grand Wizards of the Ku Klux Klan. (See video HERE.) Today, the Washington Times has a similar omission:
“Does anybody realize there’s a war going on out there in the desert sands of Iraq and the rough mountains of Afghanistan? Apparently not, or Congress would be taking care of our troops,” reacts Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican.
The congressman quotes Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a respected cavalry leader who said about winning: “Get there firstest with the mostest.”
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He was probably respected by his men. Using just “respected” makes it sound too broad. They should have been more specific on who exacted respected him.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:56 amUh, actually, the war in Iraq seems to be mostly in urban areas, and the fighting in Afghanistan is in farmland valleys, where today another 20 civilians have been killed in a Nato airstrike……
May 9th, 2007 at 9:57 amMore media spin to try and sanitize reality………..
…
Hitler was a famous writer.
He’s quoted often.
…
May 9th, 2007 at 9:58 amMilitary historians admire Forrest’s military effectiveness.
The most serious charge against him was that he murdered captured Union soldiers, especially but not only black soldiers. That’s a pretty serious charge, especially considering that he was a traitor too. Forrest was rich before the war and made most of his money as a slave trader. Not really much to admire.
People say that he renounced the KKK late in life. I don’t know the whole story about that — I’m suspicious, though.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:01 amKKKarl Rove uses the same motto:
‘Get there firstest with the mostest’ lies, spin, rumors, back channeling, innuendo, rumor & whatever else it takes.
KKKarl, are you Bedford reincarnated? No? It was George Allen? OK, I’ll buy that.
Keep you hand on your blackberry, KKKarl, & GET READY TO RUUUUUHHMBLE!
May 9th, 2007 at 10:02 amSo what’s worse, being the first Grand Wizard of the KKK or being a General for the greatest enemy our Union has ever known?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:04 amThey DEPEND on the average population to be uneducated and ignorant. That is how they stay in power and will do whatever it takes to keep the general population ignorant. (See thinkfast thread below regarding student loan corruption for one example) This way when they make these grandiose statements out of context or from refutale sources, most people will still buy into it!
Hell, I am probably giving these neocons too much credit. Most seem to be as ignorant as the people they are trying to dupe……..
May 9th, 2007 at 10:05 amSo, my question is, “SO DID WE ‘Get there firstest with the mostest’ ???
Or, rather, did we undertake this assinine mission with greatly too few troops and on the cheap? Whose stupid idea was that, anyway???
The Washington Times is a Republican party shill owned by the Moonies. Why would anyone expect anything like journalism from the likes of them or Fox?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:09 amHitler was respected by his men too.
So was Ghengis Khan.
So was Chimpy.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:10 amCome on guys, going to the well with this story again smacks of being thirtsy for the site hits from yesterdays comments section…
So here’s another one, but lets find some new material….
May 9th, 2007 at 10:12 ammonkeyboy
but its so amusing how pointing out that a confederate was a traitor to his country stirs up the indignation of some people. They don’t seem to understand that even though he was an effective military leader, he was also a traitor. These are not mutually exclusive.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:17 amIt’s the Moonie Times. Do we expect great things….? *yawn*
May 9th, 2007 at 10:20 amThe whole of the South as populated by Benedict Arnold’s at one time.
Slave owning Benedict Arnolds.
-GSD
May 9th, 2007 at 10:26 amwas populated…
May 9th, 2007 at 10:27 amIf the Wash. Times was supposed to mention Forrest’s KKK connection (even though that had nothing to do with the subject, which was military strategy), shouldn’t the NY Times mention Robert Byrd’s KKK connection every time they quote him on anything?
The correct answer is neither should be mentioning it unless that is the subject matter or it has some direct relevance.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:28 amActually, Forrest was a very good general. But he had flaws—just a Lee was fighting (ultimately) for slavery. Or Werner von Braun, a brilliant rocket scientist, built V2s for the Nazis.
Forrest’s KKK ties is not something to be proud of…
May 9th, 2007 at 10:32 amTo #15 – yes they should mention his KKK connection, particularly if they are using the term “respected” without saying who specifically respected him. His KKK connection makes the use of the world “respected” at best questionable.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:36 am* RACISTpublicans *
May 9th, 2007 at 10:38 amGreat point Cynicon. Let’s be sure to mention Bush’s cocaine use every time he talks about border security or drug enforcement. And Cheney’s abuse of mixing drugs and alcohol any time we discuss his hunting.
Great idea Cynicon.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:39 amThey left it out cuz its irrelavant.
/sarcasm
May 9th, 2007 at 11:14 amhahahaha!!!
thinkprogress.org
don’t forget that Liberals and Democrats always forget to their voters that one of their Democratic Leaders was a KKK Grand Wizard, yes ladies and gentleman, none other than Senator Byrd.
typical selective outraged from the left.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:21 amIs that sulpher I smell, was that a pass through by V.V, M.A. VTH.? I believe it was…Black hearted little troll’s are so easy to spot.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:38 amNot to mention that the Confederates were traitors to the Union and to the United States.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:41 amSince the Confederate States of America posed an “existential threat” to the United States of America, and since they took up arms against the duly constituted authority of the USA, and since that is apparently some kind of bizarre source of pride for Republicants, guess the only conclusion we can reach is that in 100 years time, they will be favorably quoting that “respected leader” Osama bin Laden.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:44 amThey DEPEND on the average population to be uneducated and ignorant. That is how they stay in power and will do whatever it takes to keep the general population ignorant.
Comment by Bluedahlia — May 9, 2007 @ 10:05 am
Yes but there are other sources of info other than ThinkProgress available. It is not they who keep you all ignorant it is yourselves.
I take it that was who you were referring to, given the comments that preceeded yours in the 2nd article referring to Forrest’s Klan involvement:
http://tinyurl.com/ytac9v
http://tinyurl.com/326ovq
May 9th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Now, now everyone, lets not be harsh.
I am willing to bet, given Ted Poe’s party affililation and that he comes from Texas, he had no idea how stupid it was to quote the Founding Father of the KKK—BECAUSE HE HAD NO F**KIN IDEA HE WAS THE FOUNDING FATHER OF THE KKK!
See, Republicans basically don’t believe in learning or understanding history in an in-depth way (”aint that one a them Libral Arts?”). They prefer to use arcane quotes from historical figures in their propaganda campaigns. And since Texas schools only teach the answers to TASS tests so they can lie and say their kids got an edukashun, most “folks” coming out of the boondocks of the Lone Star State have IQ’s that match their hat sizes.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:03 pmSenator Byrd? How long ago was that? We’re talking about something that happened this week, not last century.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:07 pmIts pretty funny how much the Regressives need to crank up the “way back machine” when they need to make a point. Oddly enough that machine, while good at spoting crafty public servants, cant ever seem to stop on the years 1970 to 1974.
Forrest was an outstanding cavalry general who drove the Union armies nuts. They respected his abilities. He was a master tactician and also outstanding at strategic and tactical sleight of hand. More than once he convinced Union garrisons that outnumbered him into surrendering by making them believe his numbers were far greater than they were. It is not clear that Forrest gave the orders for his troop to slaughter the (mostly) black troops at what came to be known as the Ft. Pillow Massacre. He always denied it and the record is mixed; he claimed to have done all he could to put an end to it once it began. As commander, he obviously is ultimately responsible for the conduct of troops under his command. Forrest helped found the KKK to “defend” the South against the “depradations” of Northern occupying troops and carpetbaggers. And secondarily to keep the newly freed slaves from getting big ideas. He left when the KKK became what he saw as a “lawless gang” that started going beyond “defending” the South and started terrorizing natives whites with whom they had a problem, committing robberies, etc.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:55 pmYou should expect nothing less from the right wing biased Washington Times, the Rev. Moon paper of Tony Blankley.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:32 pmThey are not a real paper – they are a tabloid, a rag, a gossip paper, posing as legitimate news.
TP… I hate to say this, but I sort of agree with the trolls. Poe quoting Forrest is pretty much irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Yes, right-leaning publications will spin Forrest one way and left-leaning another way. The CONTENT of Poe’s message is MUCH more important! He’s spinning the same false “support the troops” rhetoric that the administration is spouting. That’s important. Not the quote.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:09 pmForrest founded the KKK. He was college educated. Brilliant military leader. Funny the same people hating on the Media for distortion of facts can’t get the facts right. Even when it plays into their arguement. He did not say firstest or mostest.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:16 pm#31 bob
How ironic that you’re commenting on people not getting facts right. The only thing you got right was that Forrest was a brilliant military leader. He was most assuredly NOT college educated, nor did he found the KKK.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:43 pmBig deal, I think: Everybody quotes Robert Byrd eventually. Then I find out it’s about quoting Nathan Bedford Forrest. Well, he knew more about military matters than Byrd, anyway. The whole stink is one of the most contrived in recent memory, which is saying a lot. Come on, guys. You can come up with better cheap shots than that.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:38 pmI read Forrest’s 1877 New York Times obituary, which was all about Forrest’s role in the Fort Pillow Massacre and didn’t mention the KKK once. The Fort Pillow Massacre is truly revolting, and was as great a crime against the United States military as anything the Germans or Japanese did in World War II.
Today’s press mentions the KKK connection but most often not Fort Pillow. I have also yet to see the KKK characterised as a terrorist group, which is expressely what it was. (apologists might call them a national liberation front against northern occupation, but no legitimate NLF would exclude half the south’s population as the Klan did)
Whatever the case, he was a war criminal on the level of Ratko Mladic (the fugitive Bosnian Serb General).
May 9th, 2007 at 4:24 pmSo they “omited mention”. Should we introduce Bryd like this every time he goes to speak -
“And now a man who needs no introduction. The brain damaged and former KKK member, Senator Robert Bryd”
They seem to “omit mention” every time he is introduced.
ROTFL
May 10th, 2007 at 9:11 am