"I shall never fight in the armed forces 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"
— Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944
A semi secret ritual in journalism is to write obituaries for famous people and have them "in the can" for when the time comes to use them. Several months ago I started to write Robert Byrd's obit and after four days gave up on it. I found myself writing a profanity laced column and not being like most liberals, I would never publish it. I don't roll that way. After my thoughts on Sarah Palin, a faithful reader wrote and said that I should comment on Robert Byrd and the fact that at 92 years old he's still in the senate instead of being a greeter at Wal-Mart. After much self editing, I took up the challenge.
There are times when I am forced to drive through West Virginia. I will admit that some of it is beautiful, most of it is not. It is as corrupt as Louisiana and as backward as the deepest part of Appalachia. I have been in the deepest parts of the south, where rebel flags still wave high over the schools and government offices and those parts are more forward thinking than most of WV. John Denver must have been on one of those "Rocky Mountains High" when he wrote and sang "Country Roads."
It is fitting that I write about the Robert Byrd State on the weekend where my beloved Pitt Panthers travel down there to do battle with WVU.
As you drive through WV you will see signs everywhere; ROBERT BYRD STATE HIGHWAY/
ROBERT BYRD FEDERAL HIGHWAY /
ROBERT BYRD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL /
ROBERT BYRD HIGH SCHOOL /
ROBERT BYRD HOT DOGS AND MASSAGE PARLOR.
Talk about your earmarks. John Murtha looks like Rush Limbaugh compared to Robert Byrd.
Byrd is called the senate historian, why not, it seams like he was standing next to John Hancock when he signed the Declaration of Independence.
He has been in the senate longer than Strom Thurmond and Thurmond was 100 years old!
Born (now don't laugh) Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr, he was raised by his aunt and uncle who named him Robert C Byrd. At the age of 24 he became an "Exhalted Cyclops" (I have no idea what that is) and later a "Kleagle" (a recruiter) In Byrd's own words he said that a Klan official told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did."
But Byrd sang from a different hymnal when he became a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1952, Byrd gave this soft shoe; "After about a year, I became disinterested, quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization. During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan." He said he had joined the Klan because he felt it offered excitement and was anti-communist.
That came back to bite him in the preverbial but because someone found letters he wrote just a couple of years before, in 1946 or 1947 he wrote a letter to a Grand Wizard stating, "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 nation."
In the late 90's he told students if they were considering a career in politics, "Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena."
This is a man who took his turn and filibustered for 14 hours against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Later in another interview the topic turned to race relations, Bryd then gave us this little gem; "They're much, much better than they've ever been in my lifetime... I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us... I just think we talk so much about it that we help to create somewhat of an illusion. I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, 'Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time, if you want 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."
I have a friend who is a state trooper in Florida. Before that he worked in West Virginia. He told me the story of his partner stopping Byrd after a hit and run accident. The Officer was following a new Cadillac when it swerved and hit another car traveling down the road and the driver just kept going. The Officer seeing this first hand put on his lights and siren and pulled the Caddy over. Well guess who was driving? Robert C Byrd the SENIOR Senator of West Virginia. He goes up to the car and Byrd is getting out yelling profanities at the trooper. The trooper asked him for his license and owners card. An inebriated Byrd reaches into his suit coat and pulls out this leather bound pamphlet. He points to a section that states something like "senator in performance of his duties cannot be impeded by anyone including law enforcement in conjunction with their duties." So this trooper tells Byrd to sit tight. Now this was in the late seventies or the early eighties and Byrd has a telephone in his car. While the trooper is trying to sort things out, he gets a call from his commander telling him to let the senator go and come back to the barracks. Hesitantly he does and when he reports back to his commander gets his butt chewed out and gets assigned to patrolling some section where one car a day drives by.
The trooper gets screwed, the people who Byrd hits gets screwed and we all get screwed by Robert Byrd.
Robert Byrd is a piece of excrement that keeps being elected just based on the pork he brings back to WV.
The FBI didn't want a new finger printing center in West Virginia, but they got one forced down their throat by Robert Byrd. The Navy didn't want or need a new atomic clock, but they got one shoved down their throat by Robert Byrd. The list of pork barrel projects goes on and on.
Whenever there is a story on David Duke, EVERY newscaster starts out; "Former Grand Dragon of the KKK David Duke...." Do you hear that when they talk about Robert Byrd? Why is that? It is not because he's a democrat is it?
I love old people, I really do. I hope to be 92 years old someday. (I hope you are reading this God) But a 92 year old bigot and big money spender does not belong in a wheel chair, drooling all over themselves in the senate chamber. When he fills his diaper in the middle of a filibuster, (bringing new meaning to the word "filibuster") are the going to have to stop proceedings while they air out the chamber? I have a three year old and a mother in a nursing home and trust me, when they load their diaper, it smells the same, really freaking bad!
There is no reason why guys like Byrd and Thurmond should serve so long. Most of the time they are comatose during debate and can't add anything to the issues at hand. It's just a status symbol, getting their names in the history book while we all pay the price.
I'm willing to bet that Byrd doesn't know here he is half the time, let alone what they are voting on.
Take some of the graft that you have accumulated over the years, buy a nice condo along the Elk River in Charleston and enjoy whatever time you have left on this earth.
You'd be doing us all a favor, not because you are useless, but it cost us all each time they name a building or a road after you. If you really want to serve your country in the twilight of your life, retire. The cost of your retirement pension is got to be a savings compared to the next pork barrel project you are going to have named after you.
This correspondent would like to wish you and yours a safe and healthy Thanksgiving. During your prayer before the meal, please take a moment to thank your God for the men and women who serve this country unconditionally each and every day of the year. May God Bless each and every one of them and may he bestow his blessing on you and yours.
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