Ted Poe's comments stir up controversy

If there's one thing we love, it's a good political faux pas. Houston Rep. Ted Poe delivered for us when he quoted a KKK leader on the House floor, and the entire blogosphere threw up a little bit in its mouth. You can view the video of Poe's comments here.

According to Wikipedia, Nathan Bedford Forrest, whom Poe quoted, was the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, but he is remembered largely for his military prowess. There are high schools and counties named after him, and Tennessee has thirty-two historical markers dedicated to Forrest. Late in his life, Forrest distanced himself from the KKK and publicly spoke in favor of voting rights for African-Americans. He still often tops lists of the worst Americans in history, however, due to his KKK involvement.

Forrest's mixed legacy didn't stop political bloggers everywhere from jumping on Rep. Poe's case though. Crooks and Liars broke the story. They were followed by sites like Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, and Firedoglake, who all managed to find different ways of saying exactly the same thing. We did fine one lone dissenter, The Moderate Voice, who doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

KHOU indicates that this is evidence of the nature of political blogs, who "view their sites as the moon and stars over Washington they are mostly products of cut and paste." Rice Professor Bob Stein is frustrated by this: "I've almost quit reading blogs. It's just too much. You get weary." We're sure Ted Poe agrees.