What is the origin of the phrase 'I have found the enemy and it is us'?

Answer 1

This remark originally appeared in the introduction to a POGO book, where Walt Kelly paraphrases Oliver Hazard Perry's famous dispatch after having won the battle of Lake Erie: "We have met the enemy and he is ours." Kelly writes "We have met the enemy, and not only is he ours, he may be us." Kelly loved to recycle his jokes, so the idea reappeared many times, including as the title to one of the later POGO books.

Answer:The original statement was "we have found the eneny and he is us". It came from a newspaper cartoon written by Walt Kelly. and was said by Pogo, and oppossum to his buddies who were an alligator and an owl. can't remember the name of the cartoon. Answer:The Quote is correctly "We have found the enemy and he are us" said by POGO in the comic strip of the same name. Albert was the name of the alligator. Answer:The correct quote (I'm looking at the cartoon drawing) is:

"WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US" all caps.

It is set in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia:

• Pogo ....................... possum
• Albert ....................... alligator
• Howland ................... owl
• Churchy la Femme .... turtle
• Porky Pine ................ porcupine
• Beauregard .............. hound dog
• Fremont ................... bug

You see I'm a 70 year old American and have been taking advice and direction from POGO for years. The older I get the wiser POGO seems to get. I believe he must be a descendent of a Roman philosopher. The Romans didn't listen to them either.

****Note: The ORIGINAL was first published in 1950-1951 in a book by that title: We have met the enemy and he is us. The book was a political tome' in protest about pollution.

Answer 2

The phrase "I have found the enemy and it is us" originated from the comic strip "Pogo" by Walt Kelly in 1970. The character Pogo, a possum, utters this famous line in a moment of realization about the destructive actions of humans on the environment. The phrase is a commentary on how often we are our own worst enemies, causing harm to ourselves through our own actions and decisions.