Free Republic

Unlike the long-dead figures whose statues and other honorifics have been assailed in recent weeks, Robert Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan organizer, remains basically untouchable. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — While monuments and building names said to be stained by racism are being erased across the country, one former Ku Klux Klan organizer remains virtually untouchable.The late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat and Senate majority leader who organized a Klan chapter in 1941 and filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is celebrated in the state, his name gracing over three dozen public works projects, including two federal...

The first spacecraft ever to circle Mercury has beamed home the first-ever photo taken of the small rocky planet from orbit, showing a stark landscape peppered with craters. NASA's Messenger spacecraft snapped the new Mercury photo today (March 29) at 5:20 a.m. EDT (0920 GMT). The photo shows the stark gray landscape of southern Mercury, a view that is dominated by a huge impact crater. "This image is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the solar system's innermost planet," Messenger mission scientists explained in a statement. The new Mercury photo shows a region around the south...

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer 27 minutes ago A proposal to restore a scaled-back version of the line-item veto authority for presidents drew withering scorn Tuesday from the dean of the Senate, who called it "an offensive slap at Congress." But the White House defended the idea as a way for President Bush to weed wasteful spending from appropriations bills that he has little choice but to sign. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (news, bio, voting record) of West Virginia led the Democratic assault on Bush's so-called legislative line-item veto, saying it would shift too much of Congress' cherished constitutional...

A multimillionaire businessman entered the GOP race to challenge Sen. Robert C. Byrd on Wednesday, hoping to deny the 88-year-old incumbent Democrat a record ninth term. John Raese, 55, said he would campaign on a platform touting free enterprise ... a rebirth of capitalism... The National Republican Senatorial Committee heralded the filing by Raese, a former state GOP chairman who has sought office before. Though four other Republicans are running in the party primary, the GOP committee called Raese "the first financially credible opponent Byrd has faced since 1982." Raese's last major foray into election politics came nearly 18 years...

ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- With a formal announcement set for next week, Republicans are already attacking the U.S. Senate's oldest member, Democrat Robert C. Byrd, for his intention to seek a record ninth term. Ned Rose, chairman of the organization Friends of Robert C. Byrd, said in an e-mail to supporters that the 87-year-old will disclose his plans Wednesday at the state Capitol. "Senator Byrd has always exemplified the courage, the strength and the leadership that defines a statesman," Rose wrote. "He has never flinched from a challenge." Tom Gavin, a spokesman for Byrd, told The Associated Press on...

WASHINGTON, April 2 - After 46 years in the United States Senate - including a 12-year stint as Democratic leader - Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia sees himself as its protector and defender, a guardian of its history and traditions. A co-author of a four-volume tome of Senate history, Mr. Byrd, 87, comes to work each day with a tiny leather-bound copy of the Constitution in his left breast pocket. "I've forgotten more about the rules and procedures," Mr. Byrd said in an interview this week, "than most senators will ever know." Now Mr. Byrd's reputation as an...

What do you call a former member of the Ku Klux Klan who tied up the world’s oldest deliberative body for 14 hours to oppose the Civil Rights bill of 1964, and voted against the Supreme Court appointments of both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas? What do you call a man who on Wednesday will vote to reject the confirmation of the first black woman to the post of Secretary of State, a position first held by the author of the Declaration of Independence? Why you call that man a Senate Democrat, that’s what you call him. You can also...