[ClorrerVeks]

Don't forget the D.

[nuabuncarnigo]

Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan member, later filibustered civil rights legislation, then renounced his past and championed equality. "The people of West Virginia have lost a true champion, the United States Senate has lost a venerable institution, and America has lost a voice of principle and reason with the passing of Robert C. Byrd," Obama said. This is hard to understand for a foreigner.

[kavaTeexy]

I don't think he died a racist. But if you want to be cynical knock yourself out.

[SeelaypeKet]

What, if someone says their opinion is different from what it was 60 years ago they must be lying?

[nicktender]

The civil rights act was a bit more recent than 60 years nay?

Well, according to some people that one was a "mixed bag". And I think a person can change their mind in 40 years too.

[mr.memo]

I think Chick Grassley may be worse.


****ing Iowans...

[everlastinge]

So what if the guy was a Klansman decades ago? He's not now.

Should we really make a point of reminding everyone when Senators who used to be Christians die 40 years from now? People make mistakes in their pasts, an they identify with common bigoted movements just to get the local bigots to vote. It's how politics works in the USA.

[Mmzmptvk]

The US is substantially more christian (and religious in general) than most other developed nations.

[offinoNem]

Robert Byrd was a "grand dragon"? Source?

[johnstylet]

Grand dragons are a big deal from what I understand. I think cyclops is a lot further down the food chain.

[Saduyre9de]

Grand dragons are a big deal from what I understand. I think cyclops is a lot further down the food chain.

Byrd's more damning position was as a "kleagle" (recruiter).

[MipRippoomamn]

So we're suppose to vilify Byrd for having denounced racism and later in life, taking up the cause for equality?

[mirex]

The Pope is clearly still evil. That's where the distinction lies.

[mikeyyuiok]

A tale of two bigots by Adam Clymer - NYT as discussed by James Taranto

Compare and Contrast
The men who rank first and third in the list of longest-serving U.S. senators, Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, both died this decade. That's not the only thing they had in common. Both began their careers as segregationist Democrats but later repented and supported civil rights legislation. Both had obituaries in the New York Times written by Adam Clymer--but therein lie some differences:

The Thurmond obit, published June 27, 2003, was headlined "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100."

The Byrd obit, published today, is headlined "Robert Byrd, a Pillar of the Senate, Dies at 92." (The early online headline said "Respected Voice" rather than "Pillar.")

The Thurmond obit mentioned the senator's opposition to civil rights in the third paragraph.

The Byrd obit, doesn't get to his opposition to civil rights--and his membership in the Ku Klux Klan--until paragraph 16, the topic sentence of which is, "Mr. Byrd's perspective on the world changed over the years."

Now it is true that Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a "States' Rights Democrat," so that he was a more important figure in the reaction against civil rights than Byrd was. On the other hand, compare and contrast these details from deep in the two men's obits:

Byrd, paragraphs 17-18: "Mr. Byrd's political life could be traced to his early involvement with the Klan, an association that almost thwarted his career and clouded it intermittently for years afterward. In the early 1940s, he organized a 150-member klavern, or chapter, of the Klan in Sophia, W.Va., and was chosen its leader."

Thurmond, paragraph 16: "In 1940, he called on the grand jury in Greenville to be ready to take action against the Ku Klux Klan, which, he said, represented 'the most abominable type of lawlessness.' "

There was one other big difference between the two superannuated senators: Whereas Byrd remained a Democrat until his death yesterday, Thurmond became a Republican in 1964. That may account for the somewhat different treatment they got from Clymer.
http://online.wsj.com/article/best_o...web_today.html

[mr.memo]

I applaud the person who realizes the wrongness of his/her belief and has the capability to change.

[Wsjltrhe]

And yet even Obama was willing to eulogize Byrd for making a dramatic life-changing turn around later in life.

[Faungarne]

Thurmond also kept his illegitimate black daughter a secret his whole life but did support her financially... so on the one hand, he kept her secret, but on the other hand, he apparently was willing to have sex with a black woman in the 1920's and support their child financially even paying for her college education in the mid-1940's while he was campaigning on a segregationist platform.

Could that have been a hush money? And bigotry is a common phenomenon.

[HassFks]

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp201...Jun28-s.html#1

I think the more important question now is, who gets his seat.

What was thought a governor appointed replacement looks to now be a special election

W.Va. AG: Special election OK for Byrd's seat
By LAWRENCE MESSINA (AP) – 1 hour ago

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia's attorney general says Gov. Joe Manchin can put the late Robert C. Byrd's Senate seat on the ballot this November.

Manchin requested a legal opinion from Attorney General Darrell McGraw, who issued it Thursday.

Manchin says he doesn't want voters to wait until 2012, when Byrd would have faced re-election.

The iconic Democrat died last week after more than a half-century in the Senate. The 92-year-old had just over 30 months left in his term.

Manchin may now call a special legislative session to settle details such as candidate filing and party nomination deadlines.

Manchin will appoint someone to fill the vacancy in the meantime. The Democrat says he may run for Byrd's seat, but won't have himself appointed.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...Yoh1AD9GR2BK00