From Instapundit.com:

SO i SEE THIS HEADLINE and it reads "Rep. Poe Quotes Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard On House Floor."

 

Big 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.

Of course, what Representative Poe was saying was "Fustest with mostest," still a good maxim for winning battles. although many contemporary accounts have him saying "Get there first with the most men."

But if you ask me, one of the most contrived stinks in recent memory is when the former Senate Majority leader made a joke at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, saying

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years."

This is a joke that could have been made at a 100th birthday party for Eugene McCarthy, Pat Paulsen, or George McGovern. (McGovern might still get there, and if anyone says that, I'll try not to bring up the Vietnam war.) All the fuss being made by the "Righteous Right" simply sabotaged a Republican leader for offending neoconservative and liberal sensibilities. Occasionally you can see them appealing to the Democrats to stab one of their own people in the back in return, which they somehow decline to do.

That was the most contrived stink in recent memory, and Glenn Reynolds was right there piling on. And that's saying a Lott.