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He left because they went soft.
Colmes asked if HE was tired or offended by the constant reference to his KKK past!!! I found that unbelievable. Imagine if any Republican had been a member, and esp. at the level he apparently had. Dan Rather wouldn't even have to fabricate documents to attack that sort of background! And Jesse Jackson and the rest would mention it on a daily basis.
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"Well, I have heard many people use it. I have heard black leaders use it. I've heard white leaders use it."
I'm thinking he used it because senility is rapidly catching up with him. Based on the times I have seen him speaking on C-SPAN, he has undergone a major decline in the last two or three years.
From: The Democrat Party's Long and Shameful History of Bigotry and Racism http://members.tripod.com/~gopcapitalist/democratrecord.html
..One of the earliest criticisms of Byrd's Klan ties came in 1952 when he was running for Congress. Byrd responded by claiming that he had left the Klan in 1943 while noting that "(d)uring the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan." Byrd was lying, however, as he engaged in correspondence with a Klan Imperial Wizard long after he claims to have ended his ties with the hate group.
In a letter to the Klan leadership (Source) dated 3 years after he purported to have ended his ties with them, Byrd wrote "I am a former kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County and the adjoining counties of the state. The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." Byrd continued his racist diatribe "It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state of the Union" and followed with a request for assistance from the hate group's leadership in "rebuilding the Klan in the realm" of West Virginia.
Byrd's racism extends far beyond his Klan membership. In a letter he wrote on the subject of desegregating the armed forces, Byrd escalated his racist rhetoric to an appalling level. In the letter, Byrd vowed that he would never fight in an integrated armed services noting "(r)ather 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" (Source).
Byrd's racist opinions have shown their ugly face in his behavior in the Senate. Byrd led the filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and, according to the United States Senate's own website, filibustered the legislation to the bitter end appearing as one of the last opponents to the act before a coalition of civil rights proponents led by Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen invoked cloture so that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could pass. At the time, Byrd was in the the midst of a 14 hour and 13 minute filibuster diatribe against the key civil rights measure (Source). Throughout the 1960's, Byrd was was one of the staunchest opponents to civil rights in the U.S. Senate.
From: The Democrat Party's Long and Shameful History of Bigotry and Racism http://members.tripod.com/~gopcapitalist/democratrecord.html
..One of the earliest criticisms of Byrd's Klan ties came in 1952 when he was running for Congress. Byrd responded by claiming that he had left the Klan in 1943 while noting that "(d)uring the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan." Byrd was lying, however, as he engaged in correspondence with a Klan Imperial Wizard long after he claims to have ended his ties with the hate group.
In a letter to the Klan leadership (Source) dated 3 years after he purported to have ended his ties with them, Byrd wrote "I am a former kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County and the adjoining counties of the state. The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." Byrd continued his racist diatribe "It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state of the Union" and followed with a request for assistance from the hate group's leadership in "rebuilding the Klan in the realm" of West Virginia.
Byrd's racism extends far beyond his Klan membership. In a letter he wrote on the subject of desegregating the armed forces, Byrd escalated his racist rhetoric to an appalling level. In the letter, Byrd vowed that he would never fight in an integrated armed services noting "(r)ather 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" (Source).
Byrd's racist opinions have shown their ugly face in his behavior in the Senate. Byrd led the filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and, according to the United States Senate's own website, filibustered the legislation to the bitter end appearing as one of the last opponents to the act before a coalition of civil rights proponents led by Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen invoked cloture so that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could pass. At the time, Byrd was in the the midst of a 14 hour and 13 minute filibuster diatribe against the key civil rights measure (Source). Throughout the 1960's, Byrd was was one of the staunchest opponents to civil rights in the U.S. Senate.
$10 a head ? $10 was a nice amount of money 30 years ago. And to hire lynchers ??? Well, we all know if it was any Republican they would be thrown out of government or in jail if the aclu could find anything .
I got tired of the Reublican's making me take off my hood and cloak when ever time I entered the Senate chambers.
How does one legally leave an on-going criminal enterprise? Isn't it likely that, as far as the Klan is concerned, he's still a member?
He didn't leave the Klan, the Klan left him.
Sheets is one of the few Dems that I actually enjoy hearing speak. I don't agree with him on darn near anything. He is however almost 100% completely your stereotypical southern political windbag.
I have always enjoyed listening to him rant.
Senator?, that's a very lean excuse for you use of the 'n' word? If you want me to believe that, please name the white and black leaders who have used that word! Else, I will assume that you are as racist in 2005 as you were in 1964 and 1946.....
For Immediate Release
March 13, 2005
GOP LEADER RESPONDS TO BYRD FOX INTERVIEW
Hiram Lewis Questions the Senator's Remarks; Calls on Byrd to Renounce the 'Religious' Mission of the Klan.
CHARLESTON, WV - West Virginia Republican Party Treasurer Hiram Lewis, IV questioned the sincerity of Senator Byrd's remarks following a recent interview with Alan Colmes on Fox News.
"It was nothing but a paid political ad," Lewis said, noting that Sean Hannity was mysteriously absent from the interview. "I am sure that was a condition of the interview. The Senator chose to be interviewed by a like-minded liberal that would not question his stance against the war, judicial fillibusters, and the Senator's history with the Ku-Klux-Klan."
For example, when questioned by Colmens, "What changed you? What enabled your thinking to progress? What changed you as a man?" Senator Byrd responded, "Time, reflection, and the teachings of the Bible, the sermon on the mount. My wife and I, we're born-again Christians. We were baptized in the Old Church Yard of Crab Orchard Baptist Church in 1946. That's 59 years ago."
But, noted Lewis, that fails to explain his votes against African-American nominees Thurgood Marshall (Supreme Court), Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court), and Condoleeze Rice (Secretary of State); his 14 hour and 13 minute fillibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; his racial slurs on FoxNews in March, 2001; and his letter to the Klan Imperial Wizard in 1946, wherein the Senator stated, "I am a former kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County and the adjoining counties of the state. The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia."
Note also that the Senator stated during his congressional campaign in 1952 that his Klan membership ended in 1943, three years prior to the revealing letter.
Lewis says that the Senator "always relies on religion to cover-up sins of the past," adding: "He knows that West Virginia is a conservative, christian state. Most voters go to church on Sundays, and if they don't, they tend to worship God in one way or another. In fact, I am a 'born-again' Christian, but, in no way, does my understanding support racism."
It is interesting to note that the Klu-Klux-Klan considers itself a religious movement. For example, Thomas Robb, a national leader of the KKK and founder of Thomas Robb Ministries, states the following as his mission on his website:
"We believe that the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Scandinavian, and kindred people are THE people of the Bible - God's separated and anointed Israel.... For the mission God has bestowed upon His chosen people, the white race, he requires their separation.... God is calling white men and women to take a message to their brothers and sisters.... God bless you as you begin and continue your journey of racial awareness and Christian responsibility."
Lewis says, "Many bad things throughout history have been done in the name of religion, including the Ku-Klux-Klan. The Bible teaches that we shall know them by their fruits. Hatred for a fellow human being based on race, is not a spiritual fruit anyway you cut it. Senator Byrd needs to renounce the Klan and his involvement with its religious mission."
Heck, I used to work in construction, and I haven't heard any form of "nigger" used even by uncouth, blue-collar rednecks in the past 25 or 30 years. One still heard it sometimes through the 70's, but not since.