Senator Byrd's Speech Regarding the Nomination of Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

The Congressional Record ^ | January 26, 2006 | Senator Byrd

[Cboldt]

Senator Byrd gives a good speech. Yesterday, the speech was not only well delivered, but also made some points that need to be made.

[ken5050]

"I hail from a conservative state..."

Ya think he told Jay Rockefeller...?

[Cboldt]

I neglected to mention, that in order to view the source, click on

"4 . EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - January 26, 2006)"

From there, click on "Printer Friendly" and you will be viewing the text of all of the speeches regarding the Alito nomination, made on January 26th.

[Reform4Bush]

"Bob Byrd personifies what our Founding Fathers were thinking about when they were thinking about a United States Senate. He brings the kind of qualities that the Founding Fathers believed were so important for service to the Nation."

- Ted Kennedy

So how come Trent Lott had to step down for saying something positive about Strom Thurmond? Didn't Swimmer make make a similarly 'offensive' a comment?

[Pharmboy]

When Sen. Foghorn makes a speech and leaves out the "n" word it's a good one.

[Cboldt]

So how come Trent Lott had to step down for saying something positive about Strom Thurmond? Didn't Swimmer make make a similarly 'offensive' a comment?

Well, Swimmer didn't say that the country would be better off if the country had evolved according to the Grand Kleagle's plan. ;-)

And Swimmer hasn't had a leadership position to tumble from, either. He and Lott both remain Senators.

[davisfh]

He's just trying to get re-elected in a predominantly
red state.

[Maceman]

Senator Byrd gives a good speech.

Senator Byrd is a pompous blowhard. He is so in love with his own rhetorical flourishes that his speeches inevitably stray off course. He is a walking caricature of a self-important politician.

He deserves some credit for making this particular speech, but not much when viewed against the overall body of his output.

[Sweet Hour of Prayer]

Byrd is an old dog and recognizes the climate change in West Virginia. WV voted for Bush twice. The unions don't own the blue collar working class here anymore. Byrd is up for re-election in a state that is likely to send him out to pasture.

[Pistolshot]

Was it necessary to subject Mrs. Alito to the harsh glare of the television klieg lights as she fled the hearing room in tears, fighting to maintain her dignity in response to others with precious little of their own?

There in a nutshell is the answer to why the Dimocraps are losers.

[Prysson]

I dont like Senator Byrd much..but that speech was excellent I tip my hat to him for making it.

[G.Mason]

Right.

Byrd is a regular paragon of virtue. Like Lieberman, he blathers and foams at the mouth at the Senate podium, says something, every once in a while, that is commonsensical, and we should all fawn over him.

I will say this ... the old Klu Kluxer realizes what he needs to do to be able to die a Senator.

[Emile]

Byrd's clearly running scared. He knows his re-election prospects in WV depend on his casting himself as a conservative. Same thing the Dems always do to get elected in red states. If Byrd wasn't up for re-election in 2006, we would have never heard these words come out of his mouth. Instead, he'd have participated with Kennedy, Leahy and the various leftist interest groups in their slander of a qualified, honorable jurist.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

All sides seek to use the debate over a Supreme Court nominee to air their particular wish list for or against abortion, euthanasia, Executive authority, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, wiretapping, the death penalty, workers' rights, gun control, corporate greed, and dozens of other subjects. All of these issues should be debated, but the battle lines should not be drawn on the judiciary. They should be debated by the people's representatives in the legislative branch.

Well, I never thought I would say it, but I agree with Sheets. While I detest his views on so many policy matters and his pork barrel ways, he at least makes an attempt to represent the views of the people of his conservative state.

[Tribune7]

Byrd is an old dog and recognizes the climate change in West Virginia.

Bingo! And he still should be retired.

[bornacatholic]

I was watching Hardball. Chris Matthews mentioned the bullying and the crying of Mrs. Alito and suggested maybe Pres Bush would invite Mrs. Alito to his SOTU Address and one of his guests, Dana Milbank, Washington Post pinko pinhead, actually became sarcastic and derisive and said something like, "oh, I'm gonna cry."

Now, we all know the antique press is reprehensible and living in a bubble but to see their hatred acted out live was truly impressive and not unlike watching venom shooting out of the mouth of a cobra being milked.

The antique media is beyond disgust; but not my hatred

[Cboldt]

He deserves some credit for making this particular speech, but not much when viewed against the overall body of his output.

I usually mock his speeches. It's easy to do so for delivery (although I find his delivery quite entertaining), and usually for substance.

But I found this speech to be well organized, well delivered, and surprizingly, he utterd substantive material that I am entirely in agreement with.

[harpu]

bookmarked and bumped...

[Paloma_55]

But did he mention his dog "Billy"?!??

[Wuli]

"He's just trying to get re-elected in a predominantly
red state."

You hit the kkknail on the head. Had this been 2003, he would have given the same speech with everything negative and everything positive reversed.

Eloquence is not intelligence.