Posted on 03/04/2005 8:17:17 AM PST by finnman69
Video: Scarborough Rails Sen. Byrd
Jackson's Junction: Video Blogging - we provide (video), you decide!
Scarborough Country's Joe Scarborough lays out the most damning condemnation of (D) Senator Robert Byrd that I have heard anywhere! This is must see!!
Where's the outrage? Where's the MSM? Major Papers? They are all MIA! Because Byrd is a democrat.
Please let us know what you think after you see the video!
UPDATE: You can also visit Wizbang! for more information and a great discussion about Sen. Byrd.
I actually saw it last night. It was amusing to attempt to see the Dem defend Byrd saying that he has made amends (etc, etc) for the past. Trent Lott was brought up, and the Dem stated that it was the Republicans that booted him, and I say exactly. The Republicans at least have some morals/standards/etc. If you are an influential Democrat, you can do anything and be excused. I just can't understands who votes for this guy.
I'm going to have to start watching more of Scarborough. I think he comes on at 10pm and the 5th episode of Law & Order is usually over by then.
"Sheets" also played the role of a Confederate General in the film "Gods and Generals". Not much of a sin there, but combined with his history you would think he wouldn't get within a hundred miles of such a role.
Yeah, Byrd is really sorry about his past. Sorry my ass.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7090671/
SCARBOROUGH: We beginwe begin tonight with Senator Robert Byrd.
Now, its time you know the truth about this man from West Virginia. Listen to what he said on the Senate floor on Tuesday, when he compared Republicans to Adolf Hitler.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Hitler never abandoned the cloak of legality. He never abandoned the cloak of legality. He recognized the enormous psychological value of having the law on his side. Instead, he turned the law inside out and made itmade this illegality legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCARBOROUGH: Now, of course, this former Klansman also went on to talk about how the Republicansand I am quoting him herewere incineratingincinerating, a clear reference to the Holocaust
incinerating the rights of Democrats.
Now, of course, this is outrageous, but, sadly, its nothing new. First elected to the Senate in 1958, Robert Byrds history with controversy seems to be unparalleled by anybody else in our government.
Lets take a look at some of the shocking, disturbing moments in Byrds career that have been ignored by Democrats and the press. Hes the only former Ku Klux Klan member in the United States government. He filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act for 14 straight hours. Hes the only senator to vote against both African-American Supreme Court justice nominees, Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas. And he used a racial slur, the N-word, twice in a 2001 TV interview.
Now, its only natural to ask, why is this man still in the leadership of Congress? And not only that, but why do both the elite media and the Democratic establishment praise Robert Byrd? Amazingly, they came out in defense of Byrds rant on Tuesday. Senator Teddy Kennedy called his comparison of Republicans to Nazis excellent, well thought out, reasoned, compelling, legitimate, and persuasive.
And, of course, he has been the darling of the elite media for years now. This former Klansman in 1999 was written of The Washington Post, and they said thisquoteDespite a 41-year career in the Senate, Byrds name is attached to little high-profile, big-idea legislation. Instead, he has become something of a Senate conscience.
The conscience of the Senate, huh? A former kleagle leader in the KKK
who once told a senator he would never serve in an integrated Army, saying
· quoteRather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.
With me now to talk about Robert Byrd and his history and his present is Ann Coulter. Shes the author of How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must). And Paul Waldman, hes the author of Fraud: The Strategy Behind The Bush Lies and Why The Media Dont Tell You About It.
Ann, let me start with you.
A lot of this information, even though I knew Byrd was a former Klansman, is shocking to me. I know its shocking to a lot of Americans. Why does he continue to get away with it?
ANN COULTER, AUTHOR, HOW TO TALK TO A LIBERAL (IF YOU MUST):
Probably because he is one of the leading lights in the Democratic Party.
They reallythey have been intellectually vanquished. What else do they have out there? Also, in your description of how he has been defended in the mainstream media, just a few years ago, Vanity Fair gave the former Klanner a profiles of courage award in an article written by Dee Dee Myers.
And one other thing I was going to mention about Byrd is, I mean, you would think he would stay away from this, though he can speak with authority on a fascist organization, having been a charter member of one in this country.
SCARBOROUGH: Isnt it interesting, Ann, that a former Klansman has the audacity to call Republicans in the Senate Nazis, for the most part, for a simple change in Senate rules?
(LAUGHTER)
COULTER: Well, that is the argument of someone who has no other argument left, and that describes the whole Democratic Party right now.
PAUL WALDMAN, AUTHOR, FRAUD: Hold on a second, Joe. He didnt call Republicans Nazis. That little piece you did was a masterpiece of distortion and things taken out of context 40 years ago.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second. Stop right there. Tell me one thing I said in there that was not the truth.
WALDMAN: You said he called Republicans Nazis, and thats not true, Joe. Come on. You know that.
SCARBOROUGH: What did he say, then?
COULTER: No, he compared Republicans to Hitler, saying that this change in rules, yes, it can be done legally, but Adolf Hitler operated legally also.
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: Thats comparing a change in rules to Hitler.
SCARBOROUGH: And Mussolini operated in the same way. Then he went on
· this was his big selling point. He said, and Republicans, like Nazis, are incinerating. He uses the word incinerating, incinerating the rights of the Democratic Party.
Now, you tell me, what is he talking about? Is he talking about burning leaves in Washington, D.C., on a cool fall day, or is he talking about the Holocaust?
WALDMAN: Maybe thats what you heard. Maybe thats what you heard, Joe.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: No, no, no, no, no. Thats the speech. Thats the speech. Have you not heard the speech?
(CROSSTALK)
WALDMAN: Yes, I read it.
Getting lecture from ANN COULTER on rhetorical civility is like having Jose Canseco tell you not to do drugs. You know...
SCARBOROUGH: Well, OK, attack Ann Coulter, but respond to the Anti-Defamation League director, Abe Foxman.
This is what he said: It is hideous, outrageous and offensive for Senator Byrd to suggest that the Republican Partys tactics could in any way resemble those of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
OK, AnnAnn has been attacked now. Thats fine. Now would you like to attack Abe Foxman? Is he also just throwing rhetorical darts?
WALDMAN: No, look, people get very sensitive, and rightfully so, about analogies to Nazi Germany, whether theyre direct or indirect. And he never came out and said, you are like Hitler. Hethis is in the middle of a long dissertation on history, which you know that Robert Byrd...
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: Why was Hitler mentioned?
WALDMAN: Well, you know, you would have to ask him that. But...
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, come on.
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: Well, to act like he didnt compare Republicans to Hitler, oh, gee, I didnt pick that up from the speech. Why was Hitler even mentioned in the speech?
WALDMAN: Look, you know, he decided to make a whole series of historical analogies. Maybe we would have chosen a different one.
But, you know, the idea that this is such a terrible insult and we shouldyou know, its so important that we find a quote from 40 or 50 years ago that he said that we can take out of context, like you did, Joe, and make people think he did it today.
And, Joe, I have one more thing actually about this. You complain all the time about the elite media. You know who the elite media is, Joe. Its you. You have your own television show.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, am Iam I the elite media?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Is that how it works?
WALDMAN: You give me my own television show and Ill be the elite media.
SCARBOROUGH: I am one of the few people that is actually talking about this. I started talking about it yesterday on my radio show.
WALDMAN: Thats not true.
SCARBOROUGH: The networks arent talking about it. They are not going to hold this man accountable.
I will guarantee you that 99 percent of Americans have no idea that this guy said he would rather America be driven into the dirt than ever work or fight beside an African-American.
WALDMAN: When did he say that?
SCARBOROUGH: And if they knew that, they would be stunned.
WALDMAN: Joe, what is the date on that quote?
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Well, he said it back inhe said it back in the 1940s, 1950s.
WALDMAN: OK. OK.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: The Washington Post quoted it.
Thats fine. Well, can you name anybody else? You and I both know, had a Republican or had a conservative Democrat said the same thing, they would never, ever see the light of day in the United States Senate.
COULTER: Well, lets talk about what he said today. Lets stick to what he is talking about today.
I mean, my liberal counterpartIm sorry, I forgot your namekeeps saying, well, why are we even talking about this? Well, this is a major Democratic senator.
WALDMAN: I didnt why are we talking about this.
COULTER: Not even a congressman. This was a speech that was given yesterday about something thats very important thats going on right now. He is hailed as a profile in courage in Vanity Fair just a few years ago.
If you want to give us something else to talk to, Id love to, but this is the most the Democratic Party is giving us. All we get are ex-Klanners and nuts to argue with now. And, frankly, its not really helping either my career or Joe Scarboroughs career.
WALDMAN: All we get are ex-Klanners? All we get are ex-Klanners?
What are you talking about?
COULTER: And nuts, and nuts, I said.
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: If you guys have a smart guy you want to send in, Id love to hear him.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Paul Waldman, this is what Ithis is whatthis is what I think Americans need to know, Paul. And you respond to it, OK?
If the Democrats take back control of the United States Senate, then this man, Robert Byrd, is third in line to be president of the United States. And, in the age of terror, he could be president of the United States. Does that not concern you, that, in the United States Senate, somebody with that much power and that much respect has, without a doubt, the most racist past of anybody, I mean, when Trent Lott makes an off-the-cuff comment and gets driven from his leadership post?
WALDMAN: Well, he absolutely has repudiated everything that he did back in the 1940s, whenyou know, we are talking about over half-a-century ago. He said it was the biggest mistake of his life.
So, we absolutely can talk about this. And the idea that no one else is talking about it, thats not true. They are talking about it on Fox News. They are talking about it on conservative talk radio. The entire network has been activated. I dont know if you got your RNC talking points this morning. And thats why we are doing a show about it. But...
SCARBOROUGH: You know what? I dont read RNC talking points.
WALDMAN: Well, good for you.
SCARBOROUGH: But I do know this. If a Republicanif a Republican had compared the Democratic Party to Nazi Germany, I would be on tonight talking about it.
And, Ann Coulter, you can attest to the fact that I catch a lot of garbage from conservatives because I go after the Republicans the same way I go after Democrats.
COULTER: Well, also, if it were Republican, I would have read about it in The New York Times.
(LAUGHTER)
SCARBOROUGH: Where is The Times? Where is The Washington Post?
Where is The L.A. Times?
WALDMAN: Front page, above the fold.
SCARBOROUGH: Why havent theywhy havent they editorialized on this, Paul?
WALDMAN: I dont know. It just happened yesterday. Maybe they will.
Maybe they wont.
(LAUGHTER)
WALDMAN: You know, listen...
COULTER: There was an important story about the Augusta National Golf course.
(LAUGHTER)
WALDMAN: Listen, you may think this is the most important...
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Again, again, lets look at Trent Lott, OK? Trent Lott praises Strom Thurmond, he loses his position. Christopher Dodd comes out, praises this guy, a former Klansman, says that at any time in his history or West Virginias history, he would have made a great senator for the state of West Virginia. Nobody pays attention.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Im concerned about that. I dont think thats fair.
WALDMAN: Joe, you know who went after Trent Lott? You know very well. It wasnt the liberals. It wasnt the Democrats. It was the Republicans and the conservatives that went after Trent Lott, because they knew that he was dangerous to them, to their project to try to pull away from their racist history.
SCARBOROUGH: Thats funny.
WALDMAN: Which comes up again every two years when they try to stop African-Americans from voting.
COULTER: You know, this...
SCARBOROUGH: You know, thats funny you talk...
WALDMAN: Thats why they went after him.
SCARBOROUGH: Paul, thats funny you talk about a racist history. I am so glad you did, because, again, it was the Democrats in 1964 that tried to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
WALDMAN: And all those Democrats are Republicans now.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Eighty percent of those Republicans -- 80 percent of the Republicans there voted for the Civil Rights Act. Sixty percent of Democrats did.
And there was Robert Byrd standing on the House, on the Senate floor, filibustering for over 14 hours because he hated African-Americans.
WALDMAN: And he has repudiated that. And, Joe, all those...
SCARBOROUGH: Ann Coulter, Paul Waldman, thanks so much.
WALDMAN: All those Republicans are Democratsall those Democrats are Republicans now.
SCARBOROUGH: You know what, Paul? If that makes you feel better and helps you sleep at night, great.
WALDMAN: Its true, Joe. Its the truth, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Thanks a lot. We appreciate you all being here. Coming
· its not the truth.
You have GOT to see this!!
bttt
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