W.Va. senator's (Robert C. Byrd) memoirs to be released in June (actually mentions KKK)

Hampton Roads Daily Press ^ | Jan. 11 2005 | Vicki Smith, Associated Press

[mountaineer]

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Sen. Robert C. Byrd's autobiography will be released this summer, and West Virginia's old-school orator and senior statesman hopes his story will inspire others to consider public service.

"Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields" chronicles the 87-year-old Democrat's life from his boyhood to his election in 2000, when he won an eighth term in the U.S. Senate.

The 700-page tome will sell for $35 in hardback when it's released June 15, said Patrick Conner, director of the West Virginia University Press. ...

But there have been missteps. In 2001, Byrd apologized for using a racial epithet in a TV interview about race relations. Only seconds earlier, he had mentioned his brief involvement with the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s.

"We all make mistakes. I made a mistake when I was a young man," Byrd said at the time. "It's always been an albatross around my neck, joining the Ku Klux Klan."

[mountaineer]

Just a mistake, folks, nothing to see here.

[mountaineer]

  "I have made mistakes, but instead of letting those mistakes stop me, I have learned from them," he said. "Perhaps this book can serve as an inspiration to young people to consider public service. For me, the work of lifting West Virginia [Oops, I meant, turning a once-proud group of independent, self-sufficient Americans into a welfare state] and defending America [Okay, white America] continues to be a noble calling."

[Embraer2004]

yeah, perhaps he will talk about his role in KKK meetings and his opinion about Mississippi Burning. Who cares about Robert Byrd, an already extinct dinosaur.

[Noachian]

Only a Democrat could be a KKK member and still be supported by the liberal media. Talk about double standards.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Gee, can't wait to run out and buy a copy.

[Arpege92]

"It's always been an albatross around my neck, joing the KKK."

Oh you poor baby....tell me, do you ever think about the blacks you terrorized while you were a member of the KKK? What a jerk!

[anniegetyourgun]

Sure there is something to see! Here is the legacy of the senile senator:

The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) let stand on January 10, 2005 a ruling that the Ku Klux Klan can take part in Missouri's 'Adopt-A-Highway' program in which volunteers pick up trash along the road and the state puts up a sign thanking the group. Without comment, the high court rejected Missouri's appeal of a U.S. appeals court ruling that declared the state had violated the Klan's constitutional free-speech rights. A sign announcing the Klan has adopted a one-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in south St. Louis County is erected in this December 1999 file photo. Photo by Tim Parker/Reuters

[SoFloFreeper]

If Robert Byrd were a Republican, he'd be made fun of just like Jesse Helms was back in the 80s and 90s...the difference being that Helms made intelligent remarks whenever he went to the floor to speak. Byrd's comments, if you ever watch CSPAN, are often rambling inanities that only heighten one's awareness of how utterly foolish Democrats are.

Seriously, watch Byrd sometime on the floor of the Senate. He is like a muttering old grandfather everyone has to endure during a family dinner. EVERYONE wants him to shutup, but out of "respect" they stay quiet.

If he were a Republican, the comedians and press would rivet him with EVERY SINGLE STUPID STATEMENT that comes out of his mouth.

[mountaineer]

I only can guess that racial prejudice was more prevalent in Sheets Byrd's neck of the woods than in much of W.Va. An anecdote: some local Northern Panhandle folks recently were chatting before a county commission meeting about childhood memories. One recounted how his best friend was the black kid next door and how, after that fellow had grown up and left the area, he returned to say he never experienced prejudice or bigotry until he left W.Va.

I would like to think Sheets is an aberration. Unfortunately, he's an aberration who costs the taxpayers of America a lot of money, and the folks of W.Va. a lot of embarrassment.

[BaBaStooey]

"Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields"

700-page tome

oh no

[mountaineer]

Byrd's mumblings have been incoherent for the past several years. He should have retired for medical reasons, not to mention for the reason that he's a fool.

[ken5050]

and this may indded that he will NOT run in 2006 for health reasons. Anyone who watches him on the Senate floor has to notice the marked physical deterioration over the last 2 years..the palsy is much more pronounced. So maybe that's why the memoirs are out now, so that he can gain the adulation of the media..you can't do it post mortem. I long tought that Byrd wants to die on the Senate floor, at his desk, mid speech..but it's possible that if he gets weaker physically, age could become an issue in the election.. what happened to Bunning can't be ignored...I think he won't run again..giving the GOP a great shot at the seat.

[Coldwater Creek]

I'm thinking that there should be manadtory retirement at ( I am streching it) 70.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

WVU Press to publish Robert C. Byrd's autobiography

Self-penned tome of senator's life hits bookshelves in June

BY GARY GRAY

The Dominion Post

From Dwight Eisenhower's administration to the present, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., has risen to distinction as a mover and shaker in American politics and a prolific provider for West Virginia.

The WVU Press will now play a part in presenting Byrd's account of those years by publishing his autobiography, "Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields."

The book is scheduled for release June 15.

"This project has been a labor of love," Byrd said Monday. "I often am given pause to think of how such humble beginnings gave rise to where I am today. This book takes the reader on that journey -- the story of my life."

He has traveled the globe, met with world leaders and walked the hallowed halls of Congress for more than 50 years. But of all his experiences and achievements, the most rewarding are those that have lifted the people of West Virginia, Byrd said.

"Never having forgotten my roots, I continue to be aware that my highest duty is to West Virginia and to the people of our state, who have honored me with public office for more than a half century," Byrd said. "This book talks about the road I've traveled, the many lessons I've learned and the work that remains to be accomplished."

Byrd was first elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1946 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives only six years later. He rose to a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1958 and has represented West Virginia since then. Only two other members of Congress have had a longer tenure.

"This forthcoming book will be a virtual catalog of Sen. Byrd's experiences from his boyhood in the early 1920s to his election in 2000 to an unprecedented eighth term in the U.S. Senate," said Patrick Conner, WVU Press director.

In the last months of 2004 alone, Byrd garnered $20 million for a new, state-of-the-art biomedical research center at WVU. He also helped channel $19.6 million for construction of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosiences Institute and another $4 million for WVU's Forensic Science Initiative.

"In chapter after chapter, we learn of the institutions, the policies and the opportunities that Sen. Byrd has helped create, both for West Virginians and for citizens throughout the United States," Conner said. "The epigraph to the first chapter of the book, written by 19th Century social scientist William James, expresses the theme of the whole memoir: 'The best use of life is to invest it in something which will outlast life.' "

Byrd rose through the ranks and in 1977 was elected Senate majority leader by his party, serving in the capacity six consecutive terms. He is his party's ranking member and has held more leadership positions in the Senate than any other in history.

Byrd said he has made mistakes. But instead of letting those mistakes stop him, he learned from them.

"Perhaps this book can serve as an inspiration to young people to consider public service," he said. "For me, the work of lifting West Virginia and defending America continues to be a noble calling."

WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. said the university was honored to be involved in the publication of Byrd's autobiography. The senator has a long record of distinguished public service and remains a fixture on the national scene today, he said.

"His knowledge of the U.S. Senate and sense of history is unmatched, and this book will provide great insights for not only scholars and historians, but all of us who love this great country," Hardesty said. "I've read some of the senator's works, and he's a great writer. This will be the kind of book that should be found in every library, and in every home interested in history. It will be a substantial book written by a very substantial person."

The book will sell for $35 in hardback and run more than 700 pages -- including several pages of photographs and an index -- and provide commentary on national and international events.

[mountaineer]

Whew! A tsunami of nausea just overwhelmed me after reading that article.

[mountaineer]

If he were a Republican, the comedians and press would rivet him with EVERY SINGLE STUPID STATEMENT that comes out of his mouth.

Sheets will get a pass, even after admitting (part of) his sordid racist past, because he's a Democrat. A Republican politician, in contrast, can barely admit to having dressed as a ghost for Halloween as a child without being accused of being a Klan supporter.

What, me worry?

[mountaineer]

"It's always been an albatross around my neck, joinng the KKK."

Bobby Byrd will take the passive voice "mistakes were made" approach, as if his illegal, inhumane actions involved no actual voluntary act on his part.

[BaBaStooey]

I mean, 700 pages, good Lord.

Senator Sheets could fillibuster future Senate sessions by reading from his book (instead of the phone book like the good old days)