Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

BREAKING NEWS: 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., hospitalized in serious condition
msnbc.msn.com ^ | June 27, 2010

Posted on 06/27/2010 11:55:44 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY

Headline only.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: West Virginia
KEYWORDS: 111th; byrd
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 341-342 next last
To: driftdiver

His salvation is a PERSONAL decision. Yes I will oblige you in hoping he makes that decision since eternity is forever.

Recall:

Robert Byrd

Senator Robert Byrd was a Kleagle, a Klan recruiter, in his 20s and 30s.West Virginia’s Democratic Senator Robert Byrd was a recruiter for the Klan while in his 20s and 30s, rising to the title of Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. After leaving the group, Byrd spoke in favor of the Klan during his early political career. Though he claimed to have left the organization in 1943, Byrd wrote a letter in 1946 to the group’s Imperial Wizard stating “The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia.” Byrd defended the Klan in his 1958 U.S. Senate campaign when he was 41 years old.[9]

Despite being the only Senator to vote against both African American U.S. Supreme Court nominees (liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas) and filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Byrd has since said joining the Klan was his “greatest mistake.” The NAACP, at one time, gave him a 100% rating on their issues.[10] However, in a 2001 incident Byrd repeatedly used the phrase “white niggers” on a national television broadcast.[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_United_States_politics

Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, Ex-Klansman
8 March 2001 Michelle Malkin
Ex-Klansman Robert Byrd, the senior senator from West Virginia, casually used the phrase “white nigger” twice on national TV this weekend. Enraged civil rights groups organized a protest campaign against Sen. Byrd and demanded that he undergo sensitivity training ... not. The ex-Klansman, you see, is a Democrat. Democrats can join hate groups and utter the ugliest racial slurs and get away with it because they are Democrats.

Ex-Klansman Robert Byrd, the senior senator from West Virginia, casually used the phrase “white nigger” twice on national TV this weekend. Enraged civil rights groups organized a protest campaign against Sen. Byrd and demanded that he undergo sensitivity training ... not.
The ex-Klansman, you see, is a Democrat. Democrats can join hate groups and utter the ugliest racial slurs and get away with it because they are Democrats. They belong to the party of racial tolerance and understanding. They’re paragons of virtue, and the rest of us are bigoted rubes.

The ex-Klansman showed his true colors when asked by Fox News Sunday morning talk show host Tony Snow about the state of race relations in America. Sen. Byrd warned: “There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I’m going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much.”

The ex-Klansman, famed for Beltway blowhardism, should have quit talking a lot sooner. Why any prominent politician in his right mind would publicly and deliberately use the poisonous epithet “nigger” — which most daily newspapers refuse to spell out, no matter the context — is beyond comprehension. It’s an open question as to whether the rant-prone, 83-year-old Byrd is even in his right mind, but senility doesn’t excuse bigotry.

The ex-Klansman’s admirers praise his historical knowledge, mastery of procedural rules, and outspokenness. They refer to the Senate’s senior Democrat as the “conscience of the Senate.” They downplay his white-sheet-wearing days as a “brief mistake” — as if joining the Klan were like knocking over a glass of water. Oopsy.

This ex-Klansman wasn’t just a passive member of the nation’s most notorious hate group. According to news accounts and biographical information, Sen. Byrd was a “Kleagle” — an official recruiter who signed up members for $10 a head. He said he joined because it “offered excitement” and because the Klan was an “effective force” in “promoting traditional American values.” Nothing like the thrill of gathering ‘round a midnight bonfire, roasting s’mores, tying nooses, and promoting white supremacy with a bunch of your hooded friends.

The ex-Klansman allegedly ended his ties with the group in 1943. He may have stopped paying dues, but he continued to pay homage to the KKK. Republicans in West Virginia discovered a letter Sen. Byrd had written to the Imperial Wizard of the KKK three years after he says he abandoned the group. He wrote: “The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia” and “in every state in the Union.”

The ex-Klansman later filibustered the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act — supported by a majority of those “mean-spirited” Republicans — for more than 14 hours. He also opposed the nominations of the Supreme Court’s two black justices, liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas. In fact, the ex-Klansman had the gall to accuse Justice Thomas of “injecting racism” into the Senate hearings. Meanwhile, author Graham Smith recently discovered another letter Sen. Byrd wrote after he quit the KKK, this time attacking desegregation of the armed forces.

The ex-Klansman vowed never to fight “with a Negro by my side. Rather 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.”

If this ex-Klansman were a conservative Republican, he would never hear the end of his sordid past. “Ex-Klansman who opposed civil rights and black justices” would appear in every reference to Sen. Byrd. And even the “ex-” would be in doubt. Maxine Waters and Ralph Neas and Julianne Malveaux and Al Sharpton and all the other left-wing bloodhounds who sniff racism in every crevice of American life would be barking up a storm over Sen. Byrd’s latest fulminations. Instead, the attack dogs are busy decrying latent racial bigotry where it doesn’t exist, while the real thing roams wild and free in their own political backyard.

http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=383

Thank you Michele for your usual OBJECTIVE analsis of Robert Byrd’s legacy.


81 posted on 06/27/2010 12:20:57 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver

His salvation is a PERSONAL decision. Yes I will oblige you in hoping he makes that decision since eternity is forever.

Recall:

Robert Byrd

Senator Robert Byrd was a Kleagle, a Klan recruiter, in his 20s and 30s.West Virginia’s Democratic Senator Robert Byrd was a recruiter for the Klan while in his 20s and 30s, rising to the title of Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. After leaving the group, Byrd spoke in favor of the Klan during his early political career. Though he claimed to have left the organization in 1943, Byrd wrote a letter in 1946 to the group’s Imperial Wizard stating “The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia.” Byrd defended the Klan in his 1958 U.S. Senate campaign when he was 41 years old.[9]

Despite being the only Senator to vote against both African American U.S. Supreme Court nominees (liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas) and filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Byrd has since said joining the Klan was his “greatest mistake.” The NAACP, at one time, gave him a 100% rating on their issues.[10] However, in a 2001 incident Byrd repeatedly used the phrase “white niggers” on a national television broadcast.[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_United_States_politics

Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, Ex-Klansman
8 March 2001 Michelle Malkin
Ex-Klansman Robert Byrd, the senior senator from West Virginia, casually used the phrase “white nigger” twice on national TV this weekend. Enraged civil rights groups organized a protest campaign against Sen. Byrd and demanded that he undergo sensitivity training ... not. The ex-Klansman, you see, is a Democrat. Democrats can join hate groups and utter the ugliest racial slurs and get away with it because they are Democrats.

Ex-Klansman Robert Byrd, the senior senator from West Virginia, casually used the phrase “white nigger” twice on national TV this weekend. Enraged civil rights groups organized a protest campaign against Sen. Byrd and demanded that he undergo sensitivity training ... not.
The ex-Klansman, you see, is a Democrat. Democrats can join hate groups and utter the ugliest racial slurs and get away with it because they are Democrats. They belong to the party of racial tolerance and understanding. They’re paragons of virtue, and the rest of us are bigoted rubes.

The ex-Klansman showed his true colors when asked by Fox News Sunday morning talk show host Tony Snow about the state of race relations in America. Sen. Byrd warned: “There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I’m going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much.”

The ex-Klansman, famed for Beltway blowhardism, should have quit talking a lot sooner. Why any prominent politician in his right mind would publicly and deliberately use the poisonous epithet “nigger” — which most daily newspapers refuse to spell out, no matter the context — is beyond comprehension. It’s an open question as to whether the rant-prone, 83-year-old Byrd is even in his right mind, but senility doesn’t excuse bigotry.

The ex-Klansman’s admirers praise his historical knowledge, mastery of procedural rules, and outspokenness. They refer to the Senate’s senior Democrat as the “conscience of the Senate.” They downplay his white-sheet-wearing days as a “brief mistake” — as if joining the Klan were like knocking over a glass of water. Oopsy.

This ex-Klansman wasn’t just a passive member of the nation’s most notorious hate group. According to news accounts and biographical information, Sen. Byrd was a “Kleagle” — an official recruiter who signed up members for $10 a head. He said he joined because it “offered excitement” and because the Klan was an “effective force” in “promoting traditional American values.” Nothing like the thrill of gathering ‘round a midnight bonfire, roasting s’mores, tying nooses, and promoting white supremacy with a bunch of your hooded friends.

The ex-Klansman allegedly ended his ties with the group in 1943. He may have stopped paying dues, but he continued to pay homage to the KKK. Republicans in West Virginia discovered a letter Sen. Byrd had written to the Imperial Wizard of the KKK three years after he says he abandoned the group. He wrote: “The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia” and “in every state in the Union.”

The ex-Klansman later filibustered the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act — supported by a majority of those “mean-spirited” Republicans — for more than 14 hours. He also opposed the nominations of the Supreme Court’s two black justices, liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas. In fact, the ex-Klansman had the gall to accuse Justice Thomas of “injecting racism” into the Senate hearings. Meanwhile, author Graham Smith recently discovered another letter Sen. Byrd wrote after he quit the KKK, this time attacking desegregation of the armed forces.

The ex-Klansman vowed never to fight “with a Negro by my side. Rather 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.”

If this ex-Klansman were a conservative Republican, he would never hear the end of his sordid past. “Ex-Klansman who opposed civil rights and black justices” would appear in every reference to Sen. Byrd. And even the “ex-” would be in doubt. Maxine Waters and Ralph Neas and Julianne Malveaux and Al Sharpton and all the other left-wing bloodhounds who sniff racism in every crevice of American life would be barking up a storm over Sen. Byrd’s latest fulminations. Instead, the attack dogs are busy decrying latent racial bigotry where it doesn’t exist, while the real thing roams wild and free in their own political backyard.

http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=383

Thank you Michele for your usual OBJECTIVE analysis of Robert Byrd’s legacy.


82 posted on 06/27/2010 12:21:15 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: Free ThinkerNY

Here’s my rant about these ancient dinosaurs in Congress and the Senate: THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH SOMEONE WHO CRAVES POWER AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO MAINTAIN IT AFTER HITTING THE BIG 7-0. RETIRE ALREADY.

That goes for you, John McCain.


83 posted on 06/27/2010 12:22:14 PM PDT by ChocChipCookie (God to Obama: Don't think I'm not keepin' track. Brother.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forgotten man

If it comes to that, I hope Christie appoints the meanest, nastiest, won’t back down, won’t back off, won’t be intimidated by leaders of either party, pit bull conservative he can find.


84 posted on 06/27/2010 12:22:24 PM PDT by Enterprise (As a disaster unfolds, a putz putts.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMan55

“Some staffer has been making decisions for him.. probably for a long time.”

Or a lobbyist like the rest of Congress.


85 posted on 06/27/2010 12:22:39 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: TRY ONE

After he’s gone, how will they memorialize his name as everything in the state is already named after him? They can name new things after him but how will that differ from when he was alive?


86 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:12 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Oldexpat

Appointed by our “moderate” Demoncrat.


87 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:22 PM PDT by Doulos1 (Bitter Clinger Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Wright
Governor Manchin is relatively conservative on many issues, he has an A rating from NRA for example. He won reelection in 2008 by a wide margin although the state went for McCain by a significant margin. I can't see him appointing a pro Cap and Trade nominee for instance. Actually, the best bet might be if he appointed himself. Just as long as it isn't the ambiguously gay former WV Governor Gaston Caperton, who was viewed at one time as Byrds successor in waiting.
88 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:30 PM PDT by apillar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator
He should feel right at home, his hospital bed has plenty of nice, clean, white sheets.

That's funny, I don't care who you are!

89 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:36 PM PDT by Second Amendment First ("Stripping motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their noses in it is a very bad idea.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

You aren’t logged into your DU account. Why don’t you go home.


90 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:41 PM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Free ThinkerNY

He can’t die, there’s still one rest stop and a two lane bridge in WV that aren’t named after him.


91 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:50 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (Live jubtabulously!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge
The West Virginia Democrat’s office says the 92-year-old lawmaker has been in the hospital since late last week.

Now they deem it okay to tell us "folks" what we need to know? How long has he been incapacitated and unable to vote? Who is casting his votes?

92 posted on 06/27/2010 12:24:50 PM PDT by Big Giant Head (Two years no AV, no viruses, computer runs great!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: nmh

Virtually all old school Democrats were racists.The KKK was the paramilitary wing of the Democratic party,they enforced the Jim Crow laws in the south.Murder and arson were their preferred methods,so I say Byrd can go to hell.


93 posted on 06/27/2010 12:25:59 PM PDT by Farmer Dean (stop thinking about what they want to do to you,start thinking about what you want to do to them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Free ThinkerNY

Wonder if Destroying the country and Stealing Freedom takes a toll on RATs heatlh?


94 posted on 06/27/2010 12:26:53 PM PDT by ExTexasRedhead (Take back our country on November 2, 2010.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Free ThinkerNY

They should ship him to Canada so that before he dies, he gets a taste of the health care that he has bestowed upon the rest of us.


95 posted on 06/27/2010 12:26:58 PM PDT by Hoodat (.For the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: don-o
God's will includes proper justice.

I leave that up to Him.

I KNOW He will take care of that.

OTOH, when someone is so evil, as Byrd is, my fallible human nature is tempted to give Him ideas even though, I know He doesn't need them. That is what makes Him God and separates us from being infallible. Only God is infallible and perfect. Please be kind to ALL mere mortals that suffer from being fallible. It's our inherent weakness. It is always His will that will prevail.

96 posted on 06/27/2010 12:27:01 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: forgotten man

Dhimmicrat


97 posted on 06/27/2010 12:27:21 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: TRY ONE

And pretty soon everything will be renamed Rockefeller like it was in the 80s.


98 posted on 06/27/2010 12:27:32 PM PDT by neefer (Big city turn me loose and set me free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: apillar

When is Byrd’s Senate term up?


99 posted on 06/27/2010 12:28:19 PM PDT by newfreep (Palin/DeMint 2012 - Bolton: Secy of State)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 88 | View Replies]

To: Free ThinkerNY
Manchin will appoint himself.
His main rival Mollohan is pretty much toast political career-wise thanks his primary loss.

Rahall my have some pretensions of being a member of our “House of Lords” but he has a pretty good gig ripping off the taxpayer as a congressthing. He might challenge when the term is up, but I doubt it.

This is a good opportunity for the GOP to take Byrd's seat, Manchin will not have the lock on it Byrd had. Is there any GOP’er in the state of my childhood capable of doing it?

Doubt it! (When I was living there we used to say that state gop was too poor, too unimaginative & too poorly led to afford capital letters let alone win elections !)

100 posted on 06/27/2010 12:28:44 PM PDT by Reily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 341-342 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson