U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a story of America
No senator left a more visible legacy in his native state than the late Robert Byrd of West Virginia. He was from Sophia, my father is from nearby Mount Hope, and everywhere you go in that part of the country you see signs proclaiming “Robert Byrd this” and “Robert Byrd that.”
“West Virginia has always had four friends,” Byrd once said, “God Almighty, Sears Roebuck, Carter’s Liver Pills, and Robert C. Byrd.”
Citizens Against Government Waste lists, among other West Virginia projects, the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, Robert C. Byrd Drive, Robert C. Byrd Federal Correctional Institution, Robert C. Byrd Center for Hospitality and Tourism and of course the Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center.
In effect orphaned at age 1, raised as the foster son of a miner in a home with neither electricity nor running water, Byrd’s story was an American story, from his dalliance with the KKK to his early endorsement of Barack Obama as president.
His proudest vote, he said, was that opposing military action in Iraq. Time has proven him prescient on that matter.
“If the United States leads the charge to war in the Persian Gulf, we may get lucky and achieve a rapid victory,” he warnd in 2003. “But then we will face a second war: a war to win the peace in Iraq. This war will last many years and will surely cost hundreds of billions of dollars. In light of this enormous task, it would be a great mistake to expect that this will be a replay of the 1991 war. The stakes are much higher in this conflict.”
That speech thoroughly refutes the claim of apologists today that no one could have known what the occupation of Iraq would be like. Byrd knew, as did others, but his warning fell on ears deafened to everything but the cry for war.
Over the years, people would often note Byrd’s knowledge of and affection for subjects such as Shakespeare, the Bible and Roman history, which he often mined for citations and allegoriess. But few understood that his deep immersion in such sources was the product of a poor boy’s striving to educate himself, a 19th century mindset that he shared with Abraham Lincoln, among others.
You could say that an era ended with his death this morning at age 92, but in reality his era ended a generation ago, maybe even a century ago, and Robert Carlyle Byrd was its last surviving dinosaur.
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324 comments Add your comment
larry
June 28th, 2010
9:27 am
I think of Senator Byrd like i think of George Wallace. Although he was in the KKK back in the 30’s , he still voted against the Civil Rights Act in 1964. He has apologized for his former alliances and he did bring home the bacon back to his residents of West Virginia. I agree with an earlier poster that if it wasnt for Sen. Byrd , West Virginia would be in a lot worst shape .
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2010
9:28 am
Robert Byrd: King of the Pork Barrel. Never met an earmark he didn’t like.
TaxPayer
June 28th, 2010
9:28 am
I’m glad to see so many people talking out against such a worthless and utterly despicable organization as the kkk. I also commend Byrd (and anyone else) for his efforts to try and make amends for his past involvement with those trash.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:29 am
If there ever was a reason for TERM LIMITS ………………..
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:30 am
“David Duke had his “dalliance with the KKK”, but you libs chased him out of the country”
dude. he lost his elections – a number of them, if memory serves – heck, people wanted Eddie Edwards instead of him … and, to my knowledge, he’s never expressed regret for his participation … and, in fact, has founded another white-rights organization called “European-American Unity and Rights Organization” …
so, you may want to back away from that comparison.
Doggone/GA
June 28th, 2010
9:31 am
“If there ever was a reason for TERM LIMITS ”
We already have term limits
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:31 am
Scout – 9:29 – term limits = democracy for the too effing lazy to vote …
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:31 am
Jay @ 8:09 :
Unless he had been a Republican.
kayaker 71
June 28th, 2010
9:32 am
Let’s see…
King of Pork…. porked close to 3B in “state stimulus funds” to his constituents over his reign. Probably contributed, in great part, to his popularity.
Filibuster King…. gave a 14hr filibuster opposing the civil rights bill in 1963.
KKK Grand Wizard…. served in this capacity as long as 10 years. Sort of like Reverend Wright. Wonder how many people were lynched during his tenure and how many blacks were intimidated, whipped and threatened during that time? Can you spell Jim Crow? One of his most famous quotes, ” 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”.
An outspoken opponent of busing to integrate public schools in the 1960″s. George Wallace would have been proud.
As his age progressed be became more and more senile, stepping down from his chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee because of his age. This old fossil wasn’t capable of serving but he hung on, just like any other narcissist in a political power base would do.
And Granny calls him a prodigal son. But, oh, I forget….. he was a Democrat and we all know that all Democrats with this kind of rap sheet are prodigal sons if they just see the light. Hurry, I must get to the bathroom and find my Phenergan suppositories before the nausea gets too bad.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:32 am
USinUK:
Exactly ……….. which is why we have it for the president.
Jefferson
June 28th, 2010
9:32 am
75 year old ceiling, that’s just too old to be in congress.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:33 am
Doggone/GA:
Only for the president.
RAMBLE ON!!!
June 28th, 2010
9:34 am
Robert Byrd=David Duke
I’d say there is regret if he started another organization.
oy
ty webb
June 28th, 2010
9:35 am
Actually david duke has been both a democrat and a republican during his lifetime. No doubt His “dalliance” with racism must have only occurred while he was a democrat. He truly became a racist hate monger when he became a republican…right Jay?
RAMBLE ON!!!
June 28th, 2010
9:35 am
Will Rev. Wright be giving his eulogy?
Mick
June 28th, 2010
9:36 am
ogk
I saw rush in 1975 before they hit the big time, great show and never knew a three piece band could have so much power – they were heavy metal and closed the show with working man.
Robert Byrd – liked him when he opposed the iraq war. He gave some very good impassioned speeches about the rush to war. I believe he thought of himself as a sort of modern day cicero and took his speechifying very seriously. Alas, the last few years he was barely understandable, yet he died with his boots on at 92. How many of us will do the same or even want to?
larry
June 28th, 2010
9:36 am
OGK…………go to the RUSH website……click tour, scroll down to the Sept. 29 date and click on tickemasters website. I think you go from there.
Doggone/GA
June 28th, 2010
9:37 am
“Only for the president”
Nope, we have it for EVERY elected official
josef nix
June 28th, 2010
9:38 am
He’s gone to his reward.
I’m amused at all y’all from klucker families. Well, I’m NOT. Confederates, yes, kluckers no.
And BTW, Ole Strum was quite present in his daughter’s life. Ask her. She said so.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:38 am
Doggone/GA:
Explain to us why the president can only serve twice?
Outhouse GoKart
June 28th, 2010
9:39 am
ty larry
Darn Mick…Rush 1975 you hit that one right on target!
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:40 am
Scout – “Exactly ……….. which is why we have it for the president”
no, we have it for the president because, otherwise, the position would become royalty – there’s a world of difference between the power the president holds vs. 1/100 or 1/435
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:41 am
“I’d say there is regret if he started another organization”
another white supremist organization??? oh, yeah. that’s regret.
A CONSERVATIVE
June 28th, 2010
9:42 am
DAVID DUKE & ROBERT BYRD.both former KKK members……cut from the same white cloth…..white robe ..& white hood…..Yet all the liberal democrats will honor this former GRAND DRAGON of the KKK..
Normal
June 28th, 2010
9:44 am
Good morning Mike,
I need to ask. Is being a racist like being an alcoholic or drug addict to you? You know, once an addict or alcoholic, always one. You are only recovering. Is a racist always a racist or can you at least say he was a recovering racist…I’d really like to know.
Disgusted
June 28th, 2010
9:44 am
75 year old ceiling, that’s just too old to be in congress
In light of the dalliances of “Diapers” Vitter and numerous other dirty too-young men in Congress, I would favor a 75-year-old floor. Maybe it wouldn’t deal adequately with people like Wilbur Mills, but it should obviate most of them.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:44 am
USinUK:
Exactly ……….. which is why we have Congressional Royalty ………. they all think they are princes or princesses (Barney Frank).
Normal
June 28th, 2010
9:45 am
josef nix
June 28th, 2010
9:38 am
He’s gone to his reward.
And if he was really bad, he’ll come back as a Republican…
RAMBLE ON!!!
June 28th, 2010
9:45 am
what’s the NAACP, SCLC?
a black supremacist organization?
TM
June 28th, 2010
9:46 am
Byrd did a lot good things for his state and the United States. My only beef with him is- with all the power he had in DC and his compassion for the working man, why didn’t he use his power to oversee the way Massey operated the mines in his state.
kayaker 71
June 28th, 2010
9:47 am
USinUK,
One Senator, Christopher Dodd, and one Congressman, Bwarney Fwank were the prime movers in the mortgage crisis that has crippled this country. Think that just one or two cannot make a difference? And what makes you think that “royalty” isn’t the prime mover in political careers such Kennedy, Inouye, Byrd, Thurmond, Dingell and others? Political careers like these have become royalty.
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:47 am
Disgusted – 9:44 – sadly, thanks to Viagra, this is no longer the case …
but that is a great suggestion!
Scout – congressional royalty? when you are 1 person in a 435-member body and have to run for reelection every 2 years? good gravy. that’s not royalty – heck, that’s barely more power than we have pulling the lever.
Mick
June 28th, 2010
9:48 am
ogk
This co-worker just moved down from michigan and kept telling us about this band rush that was as good as zep. So when they came around and we checked them out, I was blown away, one of the few ticket stubs that I don’t have and wish I did.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:48 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfi3SSJPG9Y
getalife
June 28th, 2010
9:48 am
This thread is racist.
Yeah, I played the race card on this thread.
Nothing is Free
June 28th, 2010
9:48 am
Somewhere up in the hills of West Virginia, a cross is burning for one of their own.
Typical liberal. Nothing wrong with this guy except that business with the KKK and his participating in the filibuster against the voting rights act.
All you libs must be really proud of the old racist SOB.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:49 am
USinUK:
If you had been around those people as I was for most of my career you would know better ………………….. they’re royalty ……… we’re commoners ………….
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:51 am
kayaker and scout – and they can be voted out of office every 2 years in the house and 6 in the senate.
sorry if you don’t it that the people of Connecticut and Massachusetts like them and send them back – but I’ll bet the people of Connecticut and Massachusetts weren’t huge fans of Strom Thurmond and Henry Hyde …
that’s how things work.
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:51 am
Scout – what makes you think I haven’t worked around congress critters or state legislators?
TaxPayer
June 28th, 2010
9:51 am
Perhaps, to mike, being a racist is like being a disgruntled former employee. By the way, does the GOP have any formal written “position” regarding the KKK. Have they explicitly stated that they do not want anything to do with such an organization or any current or past members or do they like to leave said bridges unburned or perhaps just leave some things unsaid… stashed away in the closet.
Mick
June 28th, 2010
9:52 am
TM @ 9:46
You are absolutely correct. The answer? m-o-n-e-y
AmVet
June 28th, 2010
9:53 am
The fake conservatives are just pissed that Byrd was one of a tiny handful who didn’t defect to the Old White Guy Party of Dixie during the halcyon cracker days of the 1980s and 90s.
And if he had, the one trick pony would be flaming somebody else…
Curious Observer
June 28th, 2010
9:53 am
Somewhere up in the hills of West Virginia, a cross is burning for one of their own.
No room for any more crosses in that state. You can hardly drive 100 yards without looking up and observing that the weirdo preacher and his helpers have planted three metal crosses on a hilltop.
josef nix
June 28th, 2010
9:54 am
Scout
I’m one liberal that doesn’t hold his reputation in the highest of esteem and the two-step being done here is nothing short of amazing…Milan Kundera.
pcBobby
June 28th, 2010
9:54 am
Gimme a break about Byrd’s Klan history. It was almost eight decades ago in a different time and Byrd repeatedly apologized for his membership. Limbaugh and his clones (Hannity) always carted the Byrd Klan Card out at their convenience. Then Byrd filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Again, another time and place. Senator Byrd changed as well as much of West Virginia (not all of course). Indeed, the filibuster was inexcusable, but again, Byrd changed his ways well before his death today. Governor Wallace didn’t apologize for his racist views until he was in his death bed.
The fact is that Senator Byrd saved that incredibly poor state from being wiped off the map. You don’t know poor until you visit rural West Virginia. One man’s pork is another man’s treasure and that couldn’t be more true than in this state where scores of jobs where created under Byrd’s initiatives.
If Georgia even elects a senator like Byrd, this state could be brought into the current century and might be competitive as it would get: modern transportation, education, a water plan and perhaps a first-rate biotech sector. Instead, we have elected flat-earth theorists who wish to push pie-in-the-sky ideas like the FAIR Tax and turn away the bio-tech industry — completely out of religious fear. Georgia is now a state that is falling into the hands of paranoid, right-wing secessionists who wish to bring the state back into the 1800s.
Once again, Byrd
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:54 am
USinUK :
Ah, “you” are royalty too …………… no wonder you don’t want to change it.
Sorry, your highness.
larry
June 28th, 2010
9:54 am
Should we have a retirement age for Congress and the Senate ? Should we have an age that a person cannot run for president? Say a person should be between the ages of 35-75 ?
A CONSERVATIVE
June 28th, 2010
9:55 am
HEY BLOGGERS……JAY is a second rate propagandisTS…at best..second rate…JAY is a mouth-piece for the democrats & WHITE HOUSE……..
Scout
June 28th, 2010
9:56 am
Gotta run !
mike
June 28th, 2010
9:56 am
“The fake conservatives are just pissed that Byrd was one of a tiny handful who didn’t defect to the Old White Guy Party of Dixie during the halcyon cracker days of the 1980s and 90s.”
Right. We are the racists and the Klan member who voted against civil rights legislation in the 60s is a victim.
I know that liberals have no other argument beyond “YOu ArE a RACIST!@#!”, but in this case, the charge is more absurd than usual. LOL
kayaker 71
June 28th, 2010
9:56 am
Prodigal son….. I just can’t get over that. It’s somewhere between pathetic and laughable.
mike
June 28th, 2010
9:58 am
pcBobby –
You know, you might have a point if liberals didn’t call anyone who disagrees with them a racist. What we see here is that liberals are fine with overlooking true racism and that their accusations are cynical and dishonest excuses to attack people who don’t share their narrow minded views.
USinUK
June 28th, 2010
9:59 am
off to a meeting … later taters!
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:02 am
” 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.” – Sen. Robert Byrd
But hey, he was against the Iraq War just like Jay was, so it’s cool.
@@
June 28th, 2010
10:02 am
Funny, I know it’s a language thing, but when Arianna Huffington asks her people to focus, she pronounces it as “fockus”.
Don’t see the point in discussing a dead man, so I’ll take my leave until a more lively topic comes up.
Auf Wiedersehen, Senator Byrd.
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2010
10:03 am
More Car Jobs Shift to Mexico
U.S. production may decline over the next decade, despite the bailout
Chrysler announced in February that it’s spending $550 million to retool its factory in Toluca to assemble the subcompact Fiat 500 model. Last month, Ford reopened an assembly plant in Cuautitlán to build Fiesta compacts for the 2011 model year. The factory will generate 2,000 jobs and is part of $3 billion in investments in Mexico announced since 2008. In the U.S., Ford has closed four assembly plants since 2006 and plans to close four more facilities by the end of 2011.
Moves to Mexico may speed up as Chrysler and GM pay back government bailout money and the political scrutiny they face eases, says Michael Robinet, vice-president of global forecasting for CSM Worldwide in Northville, Mich. The reason isn’t hard to fathom. GM workers in Mexico earn wages and benefits of 340 pesos a day ($26.40) on average, or less than $4 an hour, says Tereso Medina, head of the union for GM’s 5,000 workers in Saltillo, a city about 180 miles (300 kilometers) south of the Texas border, where one in four Mexican autos is produced. GM and Ford workers in the U.S. earn about $55 an hour with benefits.
There’s 5,000 workers in Mexico and the 5,000 workers in America whose jobs they took who won’t be spending much on anything anytime soon. It’s called demand destruction.
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:03 am
I noticed that Jay did not mention that Byrd also opposed the surge in Afghanistan that Jay supported.
Jay is a very selective biographer. Anyone surprised by that?
The Thin Guy
June 28th, 2010
10:04 am
Adventures in Bookman logic:
*Strom Thurman. Never a member of the KKK. Never used the N Word. Switched to GOP. Virulent right wing racist.
*Sheets Byrd. Grand Dragon of KKK. Used the N Word at the drop of a KKK hat. Demoncrap. Great Man. Salt of the Earth. Endorsed Øbungle and opposed Iraq war because his son in law is an Arab.
The average IQ of West Virginia just went up.
getalife
June 28th, 2010
10:05 am
Here is one of his speeches against the Iraq occupation:
http://firedoglake.com/2010/06/28/early-morning-swim-260/
He fought for coal and the pork for his state.
They love this guy.
MiltonMan
June 28th, 2010
10:06 am
Republicans are the only ones who hide things?
John Edwards, Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson & now Gore – yes all these fine outstanding Democrats were all open & honest about their discretions.
AmVet
June 28th, 2010
10:08 am
“Right. We are the racists…”
And the truth shall set you free, one trick pony.
No matter how much you hide behind the D and R charade, that you fancy as somehow relevant.
Those bigots – that became Republicans – were to a man were non liberals. And they all became good little conservatives when it became popular to do so under Ronnie and the Neo-cons..
And had you read one tenth as much as Byrd, you would acknowledge not just that fact, but you’d know a thing or two about history…
RAMBLE ON!!!
June 28th, 2010
10:10 am
MiltonMan,
Oh that kind of “hide”. I was thinking like William (I keep all my cash in the freezer) Jefferson kind of “hide”.
neo-Carlinist
June 28th, 2010
10:10 am
you ain’t kidding a story of America. born poor, but scratched and clawed his way to the point where he could buy sell influence and engage in that most American of businesses, corruption. also, “American” is the habit of venerating him in death, and looking the other way because 7 years ago, at the end of his political career (can you say, irrelevant lame duck?), he had the fortitude and integrity to vote against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. after he was responsHE spent “hundreds of billions of dollars” on pork earmarkes for his native West Virginia. I have an idea, why doesn’t the USPS issue a $1,000.000.00 postage stamp with his face on it? he may have been a nice guy, he may have been a closet racist, he may have regretted his affiliation with the KKK, or me may have embraced it; I don’t care. he was a politician who traded in influence pedaling and cronyism. you want to eulogize him, grab a plane ticket, fly to WV or DC and speak at his memorial service.
Granny Godzilla
June 28th, 2010
10:10 am
Kayaker 71
…the older son heard from.
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2010
10:14 am
An important part of the job fraud is to make the people feel like the loss of jobs is due to the recession, not off-shoring. Long before the recession, South Carolina lost its textile industry; North Carolina lost its furniture industry; Detroit its automobile industry, and California its computer industry, etc. President Obama wants to increase exports, but we have nothing to export. Today, the United States has the export profile of an eighteenth century colony, with the only value-added products exported being chemicals, agriculture and airplanes. Last week, the Wall Street Journal announced that the largest chemical producer in the United States was off-shoring. Most of the job loss is from off-shoring, not the recession. But Washington acts as if nothing can be done to limit the off-shoring and protect our economy.
Globalization has developed into a trade war with production looking for the cheapest country to produce, with fierce competition for industry and jobs. Necessarily, every country has developed an industrial policy in this competition to protect its economy.
ty webb
June 28th, 2010
10:14 am
okay, the debate is over. Amvet used the word “neocon”(shocker!). We need a new topic Jay.
Doggone/GA
June 28th, 2010
10:15 am
“Explain to us why the president can only serve twice?”
Because the politicians don’t trust the voters
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:15 am
Not surprisngly, the New York Times is as hypocrital as Jay:
Robert Byrd’s headline: “Robert Byrd, Respected Voice of the Senate, Dies at 92 ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us/politics/29byrd.html?hp
Strom Thurmond’s headline: “Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100″
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/27/us/strom-thurmond-foe-of-integration-dies-at-100.html
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:16 am
“No matter how much you hide behind the D and R charade, that you fancy as somehow relevant.”
LOL. Right, but you hide behind the charade that anyone with an R in front of his name is a racist. Do you not see how juvenile and flat out stupid that is?
Joe
June 28th, 2010
10:19 am
Rest in peace Sen. Byrd and by the way, good riddance. He is a poster boy for term limits. He has been entrenched in Washington politics for decades and this is not something our founders had in mind. Yes Byrd did evolve from his KKK days and learned that he could use blacks. Most dems have learned this and have convinced them that they know what’s best for them. The more free stuff given off the backs of tax payers the more they will vote for you.
This is surely lining up to be a great year to be a Republican folks. This will certainly be another pick up for the GOP…
getalife
June 28th, 2010
10:19 am
The topic should be how they sold your jobs to other countries and they are not coming back.
The corrupt government and corporate media have Americans distracted and divided over silly partisan bs.
Krugman is talking about another depression because the world has decided to go Hoover.
I guess they will get this depression thingie right this time.
josef nix
June 28th, 2010
10:19 am
mike
@ 10:15
Yep.
Normal
June 28th, 2010
10:19 am
Mike sure is anti-Jay this morning…go figure…
RAMBLE ON!!!
June 28th, 2010
10:21 am
ty webb, lol, that is a shocker.
What a miserable creature she is.
Scout
June 28th, 2010
10:22 am
Doggone/GA:
…………. and neither do I (for Congress or the president).
That’s exactly why we are in the mess we are in today.
josef nix
June 28th, 2010
10:22 am
Hey Normal!
Tough you know what on the fasting. Just had mine…several days of it…no fun
And mike is always anti-Jay and Jay is always anti-mike. There are still some certainties in life!
However, mike makes a good point at 10:15.
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2010
10:23 am
The only logical conclusion is that international trade agreements are not designed to benefit the United States, its people, its workers, or its future. They are designed to benefit the poorest countries, at the expense of the American people, leveling the “playing field”, lowering the American standard of living down to the “sustainable” level of third-world status. In other words, unemployment in America, the loss of our jobs, the shrinking of the American way of life, the eradication of our freedom to travel, the elimination of the middle class is socially and environmentally “sustainable.” The wealth of the American people is to be redistributed to the poorest nations, in accordance with chapter 3 of Agenda 21. Our consumption patterns have to be changed in accordance with chapter 4 of Agenda 21. We’ve been sold out by globalist scum, and nothing is ever going to change unless the people understand that this is a part of a deliberate agenda. It isn’t incompetence on the part of our “elected” officials. It isn’t a recession. It isn’t a bad economic downturn. It’s the effects of globalism. Period! We are reaping the natural results of policies that are designed to bankrupt our country.
RAPPING REDNECK
June 28th, 2010
10:24 am
I’m the rapping redneck…..and I’m here to say…..I’m the black sheep of the KKK…..they call me THE MAN in this here town…..but I’m just a cracker…..that likes to get down.
Doggone/GA
June 28th, 2010
10:25 am
“and neither do I (for Congress or the president). ”
And that statement makes it seem like you would be all in favor of a dictatorship, as long as YOU could be the dictator.
Me? I’d eliminate ALL term limits of any kind, for any elected position…including President.
Normal
June 28th, 2010
10:25 am
Wishful thinkin’, Joe…
Joe
June 28th, 2010
10:25 am
Jay unfortunately missed that Iraq has become a more stable democracy since the Bush lead surge. Byrd was certainly wrong about this except for the fact it did cost billions. The stimulus wasted even more without anything in return didn’t it Jay?
The so called main stream media hardly mentions Iraq anymore thanks to George Bush of course. Should we beg Bush to come back and stabilize Afghanistan since Obama has totally let it become a quagmire?????
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
June 28th, 2010
10:27 am
Well, I’m burnt up by the guy that called Bookman a 2nd-rate propagandist. Bookman’s 1st-rate all the way.
Doggone/GA
June 28th, 2010
10:27 am
“Jay unfortunately missed that Iraq has become a more stable democracy since the Bush lead surge. Byrd was certainly wrong about this except for the fact it did cost billions”
Let’s invade Somalia!
Nothing is Free
June 28th, 2010
10:27 am
Taxpayer
**By the way, does the GOP have any formal written “position” regarding the KKK.**
The KKK is an organization started by Democrats. What would the Republican’s position be? Of course they are against it. It’s a democratic organization.
Normal
June 28th, 2010
10:29 am
Josef,
I will concede to the 10:15, but dislike/hatred sure does make one narrow minded, don’t you think? By the way, enjoying sleeping in?
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:29 am
“The corrupt government and corporate media have Americans distracted and divided over silly partisan bs.”
Sounds like you are the one who wants to distract conversation away from the topic. I don’t blame you. It is a great example of liberal hypocrisy.
Nothing is Free
June 28th, 2010
10:31 am
AmVet
The dreaded question that you don’t have the stones to answer:
Name a single Dixiecrat legislator who became a republican other than Strom Thurmond.
Better be sure to ignore this one Einstein.
Outhouse GoKart
June 28th, 2010
10:31 am
Agreed SoothSayer…100%.
On another note the Supreme Court ruled against the “haters” of the US Constitution regarding right to bear arms.
getalife
June 28th, 2010
10:32 am
mike,
Let the man rest in peace.
The kkk joined the tea party and that witch in Arizona is their leader.
Doggone/GA
June 28th, 2010
10:32 am
“Name a single Dixiecrat legislator who became a republican other than Strom Thurmond”
What does it matter how many legislators did or didn’t? The real issue is how many VOTERS did?
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:33 am
“Mike sure is anti-Jay this morning…go figure…”
You talking about me again? Hmmm. If you are going to take the time to comment, I would think that you would comment on my point. Unless of course you know I am right.
“I will concede to the 10:15, but dislike/hatred sure does make one narrow minded, don’t you think?”
Bah. If you want to see real hate, check out a comment thread about Cheney going to the hospital:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/26/AR2010062604438_Comments.html
BADA BING
June 28th, 2010
10:34 am
The KKK always was an embarrasment to the South. Wearing white after Labor Day, how gauche!
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:34 am
“The kkk joined the tea party and that witch in Arizona is their leader.”
Thanks for that silly comment. Can you back up your claim about the Tea Party? Or is this another example of liberal “debate”. You know ignorant comments, claims of racism and grade-school name calling.
Come on. Back up what you say. Just this one time.
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2010
10:34 am
Worse than a Depression
As the economic crisis approaches the two-year point, it is apparent that “this time is different.” Few analysts believe that we are going to recover from this Great Recession in a fashion that resembles prior recoveries.
Throughout the financial crisis, policymakers have focused on keeping things afloat until the storm passes. They’ve spent vast sums of taxpayer funds trying to jumpstart growth until the economy is back on track. They’ve encouraged people to keep the faith until businesses start hiring again.
But what happens if all those “untils” turn out to be wide of the mark? What if the carnage we’ve experienced so far is structural, not cyclical? If that’s the case, then Americans are going to find that instead of experiencing better times ahead, they are going to be much worse off than they were — or are.
Lord Help Us
June 28th, 2010
10:35 am
I appreciate the fact that Byrd denounced his racist past and did not just act like it did not happen or blame the whole thing on the ‘lamestream media.’
However, his career as a representative of a state that is (and was) poor, uneducated and dominated by a single industry that, in the long term, destroys the environment and relegates its workers to enduring small pay for large health risks is hard to forgive.
It is hard to reconcile someone that prided himself as an arbiter of the Senate decorum and a champion of the Constitution (always kept a copy in his pocket), with someone that made being a member of Congress a lifelong career.
The pride taken in not only being a champion of pork for his state combined with the ego that either demanded or allowed his name to be applied to the results of the pork he brought home is an example of the some of the worst abuses of our government and an example of what needs to be fixed.
May he rest in peace, but, all in all, I would consider Byrd to part of the problem not part of the solution.
josef nix
June 28th, 2010
10:37 am
Normal
The sleeping in is n-i-c-e! That and staying up late…
And the dislike/hatred and narrow mindedness…works in reverse, too, narrow-mindedness leads to dislike/hatred…I’d say that narrow-mindedness is the cause and dislike/hatred is the effect. It knows no left-right, liberal-conservative bounds either…there’s just as much narrowmindedness on the one side as the other among their fanatics…
mike
June 28th, 2010
10:39 am
josef –
That is why I love you as much as a straight man can.
AmVet
June 28th, 2010
10:39 am
ty, the neo-cons could always admit that if the foo sh_ts, wear it…
NiF, I see you’ve returned to your old original bitter-as-hell self, that wants to make it all personal.
GFY…
Off to pay for more wars and corporate welfare…
stands for decibels
June 28th, 2010
10:39 am
OT post #1
I see the “Legal precedent? Schmegal precedent!” SCROTUS went ahead and gave GOPers some raw meat for November.
(In other news: Sun Rises in East.)
getalife
June 28th, 2010
10:39 am
mike,
The witch said all immigrants are running drugs.
That is a lie and racist. Go to a tea party rally and the only thing missing are the white sheets and hoods.