DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Bill Clinton on Byrd's KKK ties: 'He was trying to get elected'

**SergeyLisin** · 07-03-2010, 01:08 PM

Seriously? The Civil Rights Act was passed about 45 years ago. So nearly half of Byrd's life, and clearly more than half of his tenure in Congress, have occurred since then. Surely he had time to make amends for his errors.

I don't completely excuse his stand. But when one looks at the times in which his KKK membership and his opposition to the Civil Rights Act occurred, and the state he represented (which I believe tends to lean conservative on social issues....correct me if I'm wrong, Chad), one could argue that Byrd was merely representing the views of his constituents. I don't believe that argument applies in all situations, particularly when essential rights are at stake. But many, both in and out of elected office, believe that representatives are elected to REPRESENT their constituencies.

And let's not forget that, even today, there are candidates for office who believe that the Civil Rights Act is unconstitutional.

07-03-2010, 01:08 PM	#4
SergeyLisin Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 491 Senior Member	Seriously? The Civil Rights Act was passed about 45 years ago. So nearly half of Byrd's life, and clearly more than half of his tenure in Congress, have occurred since then. Surely he had time to make amends for his errors. I don't completely excuse his stand. But when one looks at the times in which his KKK membership and his opposition to the Civil Rights Act occurred, and the state he represented (which I believe tends to lean conservative on social issues....correct me if I'm wrong, Chad), one could argue that Byrd was merely representing the views of his constituents. I don't believe that argument applies in all situations, particularly when essential rights are at stake. But many, both in and out of elected office, believe that representatives are elected to REPRESENT their constituencies. And let's not forget that, even today, there are candidates for office who believe that the Civil Rights Act is unconstitutional.
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