Dumb Mother Kluckers

How the Ku Klux Klan continues to get media coverage is beyond me. But mention the Kluckers, Confederates and the First Amendment, and the reporters come running dutifully.

A Ku Klux Klan group plans to hold a rally June 10 on the grounds of the Antietam National Battlefield, site of the bloodiest one-day clash of the Civil War, an organizer and a park official said.

Battlefield Superintendent John W. Howard said Tuesday the National Park Service approved the white supremacist group's application for a permit to use the park to exercise its free speech rights.

"It would be very difficult to find a reason why a First Amendment permit would be denied," Howard said.

Gordon Young, Imperial Wizard of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, estimated in his application that about 100 people would attend the rally at the nearly 3,300-acre park.

What the media doesn't ask are questions. We report, you decide? How about reporting first. I learned in J-school to ask questions, not simply act as a stenographer for any idiot with a loud voice -- or a hood.

Let me help you there, Associated Press, or whatever newspaper from which you butchered this "news story."

The first question would be: Why Antietam? Also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, it is the bloodiest day in American history, but in case the Kluckers don't realize it ... the Confederates lost that day (or in the most generous analysis, the battle was a draw). Almost one-quarter of the Confederates under Gen. Robert E. Lee's command were considered casualties (1,500 killed, almost 9,000 wounded, captured or missing). Lee withdrew from the field, crossed back over the Potomac into Virginia and ended his short-lived invasion of the North. The battle is also credited with giving Lincoln the fortitude to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, as well as stopping the British and the French from recognizes the Confederacy as a legitimate government.

And the loss (or draw) for the South should have been worse -- and would have been if George McClellan wasn't one of the worst generals to ever hold the rank in any army. Perhaps the Klan should go to Manassas where the Rebels won the first Battle of Bull Run and an outnumbered Lee kicked Pope's ass a year later, as well.

But maybe before I even asked the "Why Antietam?" question, I would ask myself one: The last time the Kluckers marched out on one of these silly "commemorations," nine pointy-heads showed up ... is this really worth the ink?