Free Republic

<p>The top Senate Democrat yesterday defended a colleague's assertion that Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a former Klansman, would have been a great leader during the Civil War.</p> <p>Sen. Tom Daschle said there was "no parallel" between Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's praise of Mr. Byrd and Republican Sen. Trent Lott's praise of former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond.</p>

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has presented U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., with its 2004 Paul Wellstone Award. "Senator Byrd is truly deserving of the Wellstone Award because of his dedication to the pursuit of well-being of working people. No one stands taller for democracy, no one stands taller in the defense of our institutions of democracy, and no one stands taller in his understanding and defending of the Constitution of this country than Senator Byrd," USWA International President Leo Gerard said. The Wellstone Award was established following the October 25, 2002, death of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone,...

Now Republicans roiled by 10 days of national angst over Sen. Trent Lott's comments that the nation would have been better off if Strom Thurmonds 1948 Presidential campaign had prevailed, are digging up transcripts of the March 2001 FOX News Interview. [where Byrd referred to White N*ggers on air]With Lott's fate as incoming Majority Leader-and maybe even the Seante--in the balance, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is talking about censuring Byrd.In a town where moral equivalency is always a danger, the national conversation on race seems to be proving an almost biblical instinct to extract an eye for an eye.