About Rep. Poe quoting Gen. Forrest on the floor of the House. Interesting though it was, I would like to talk about something besides the jingoistic ramblings of a Representative if the People quoting the cofounder of a terrorist organization to demand Congress rubber-stamp the failed war policy of the megalomaniacal mediocrity who squats in the Oval Office.
Let's put that aside, as clearly I have no strong feelings about it.
And just forget the Grand Dragon Forrest part for a minute -- it's always upsetting to too many White People. Blacks, we're pretty clear on the Klan -- we don't like them. Unfortunately White America has not reached a consensus on the whole sheet-wearing, cross-burning, Darkie hating Jew killing thing yet. Ya'll need to have a meeting or something, take a vote.
But again, let's put that aside.
Here's the thing about Confederate generals: They may be the heroes of a failed nation, but they are not now, nor ever were, heroes of the United States. In fact, they were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of loyal soldiers of the United States. Quoting one of these traitors in support of U.S. troops is not only ridiculous, it is an insult to the sacrifice of all our soldiers who died protecting this country.
Yet we have erected statues of these men, named schools after them. And having myself not gone to Benedict Arnold Elementary, this makes no sense.
"Ah," says the drawling apologist, "but were these Generals not Americans?" Yes-in-deedee they were, right up until they renounced their citizenship by swearing allegiance to the Confederate States of America. Then they either became traitors or foreigners -- pick one -- who killed American soldiers.
If the Confederacy was, in fact, an independent country, then these generals were foreigners fighting against the U.S., and comparing Gen. Forrest to Gen. Patton is an insult to an American General who's self-proclaimed job was to "killed the other sonofabitch," not to kill Americans.
That was Rommel's job, or Yamamoto's job, or the job of Saddam's generals, or Iraqi insurgents, and the job of Lee, Stuart, Jackson, and Forrest.
Yet for some reason these traitors to Freedom, these killers or our brave soldiers, are treated as heroes. Because they were "Gentlemen" they are given pure motives -- "Oh, they didn't believe in Slavery, they were fighting for States Rights!" Actually they fought for the inalienable right of each State to decide whether or not human slavery will be permitted. Not only that, but these Freedom-hating elitists convinced a bunch of their poorer fellow Southerners, most of whom did not own slaves, to fight to protect the rights of the minority who did.
Oh, and if they themselves didn't own slaves? Fighting for something you fundamentally disagree with isn't heroic either. It's kinda being a weenie -- or as I call it, "Pulling a Powell."
How can any self-respecting, patriotic American, with our vaunted tradition of fighting for Freedom, hold any of those guys up as heroes?
They may have been brilliant strategists. So was Ho Chi Minh. That a Representative of the United States of America would use the words of a man responsible for the deaths of so many U.S. soldiers to justify anything is not only a travesty, but when it comes to the Confederacy, it's unfortunately typical.
And not only that, but he's quoting a guy who lost! Geez! Is a loser racist traitor really the best to go to for sage wisdom?