Posted on 09/30/2005 11:48:12 AM PDT by wagglebee
Nearly four months after the Senate's most influential Democrat, former majority leader Robert Byrd, defended the Ku Klux Klan in his autobiography, Byrd has yet to offer an apology - and fellow Democrats have not asked him to make one.
"Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields" hit bookstores in June - and featured Byrd's firsthand account of his days as an up-and-coming member of the nation's most notorious anti-black terrorist group.
According to the eight-term West Virginia Democrat, the Klan he remembers was "a fraternal group of elites – doctors, lawyers, clergy, judges and other 'upstanding' people."
At no time, said Byrd, did he hear his fellow Klansman preach violence against blacks, Jews or Catholics.
Byrd recalls that his admiration for the racist organization began early, when he was a little boy watching his father march in KKK parades.
"Watching from the window, young Byrd saw people dressed in white hoods and robes and wearing white masks over their faces. Some years later, he wrote, he learned that his father had been a member of the Klan and took part in the parade" - according to a Washington Post synopsis of Byrd's book.
By the age of 25, the top Democrat saw the Klan as an opportunity to prove his mettle. After joining up in 1942, Byrd rose quickly through the organizational ranks, earning his stripes within months as a Kleagle - the Klan term for recruiter.
Byrd excelled in the role - boasting in his book that he'd recruited at least 150 new Klansman. The feat helped him get elected to the position of "Exalted Cyclops" - a race Byrd proudly notes that he won "unanimously."
Klan Grand Dragon Joel Baskin said Byrd's performance was so impressive that he personally urged him to enter politics. "The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation," Byrd remembers the Grand Dragon telling him.
In recent years, the West Virginia Democrat has made obligatory-sounding comments about his Klan membership being the "biggest mistake of his life."
But Byrd's book makes it plain he still looks back on his Klan days with a measure of nostalgia. During his first congressional race in 1952, Byrd defended his decision to join the Klan, saying membership in the group "offered excitement."
Five decades later Byrd was still using the "N"-word in national TV interviews.
His lingering fondness for the Klan nothwithstanding, top Democrats have remained mum on Byrd's characterization of its membership as "upstanding people."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Ted Kennedy and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton continue to rely on Byrd as a key ally in tough political battles - and sometimes refer to him as "the conscience of the Senate."
Klan Grand Dragon Joel Baskin said Byrd's performance was so impressive that he personally urged him to enter politics. "The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation," Byrd remembers the Grand Dragon telling him.
And they dare to call Bush a rascist?!
Thugocrats are MASSIVE LIARS AND HYPOCRITES!
Once everyone realizes that, this type of "news" will become TOTALLY irrelevant.
Then how'd he get in?
Yes, the do dare to call Bush a racist. The dare to do so because they live in an echo chamber. They don't think FoxNews exists or has any influence, same with talk radio and the same with Freerepublic and the blogosphere in general. Thus, they think they can live in a glass house and freely throw stones without consequence.
But we know that is not the state of things. The more stones they throw, the worse they look.
Bump.
LOL..
I'm sure by HIS standards, they were!
Total BS. How could you not hear it, or know that that was what they stood for? You'd need a single digit IQ.
During his first congressional race in 1952, Byrd defended his decision to join the Klan, saying membership in the group "offered excitement."
Out of curiosity, he had enough "gumption" to join the Klan for excitement but not enough to join the army in the middle of WWII?
Something I've always wondered......if it was "so cool" to be in the Klan, and their principles so "worthy", and these people in it in Byrd's time were such "upstanding" citizens, why did they feel the need to hide behind a mask?
If this report is accurate, I doubt even the King Of Pork can win re-election in W.Va. Many polls show that moderate voters there believe he should retire -- people who would like to vote for a Democrat but believe Byrd is simply too feeble, perhaps in more ways than one.
So please, Bobby-Sheets, don't change your mind. DO keep running for re-election!
During his first congressional race in 1952, Byrd defended his decision to join the Klan, saying membership in the group "offered excitement."
Out of coursoity, he had enough "gumption" to join the Klan for excitment but not enough to join the army in the middle of WWII?
Someone please do a Lexis-Nexis search on "Byrd," "Klan," "Racist," "ABC News," "NBC News," "CBS News," "Washington Post," and "New York Times."
Hard to hear anything when you're doing all the talking!
Which party party was the party that freed the slaves? And which party was the party that would have abandoned the slaves to their masters if they had won the election?
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Yeah, and which party contains a KKK GRAND DRAGON (or whatever that reporbate was) IN IT TODAY??? Talk about the ultimate in stupidity and HYPOCRISY.
They just continue to bank on the stupidity of the American public who simply do not know any better.
I'd like to believe that Byrd is in trouble - and I wouldn't mind being proven wrong in the least bit. But I don't think he is.
WV is still a Dem state. It's trending our way - but it's still Dem territory.
They love pork projects there. And they especially love the politicians that bring home those pork projects.
If the GOP can find a credible candidate who can expose Byrd (in a debate) to be a blithering old fool, they could stand a chance.
I wonder how many Black people Byrd's recruits killed. Someone should ask him.
The'rats are proud of their sheethead!
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