Spotlight on West Virginia and Racist Senator Robert Byrd…Yee Haw!
Even though Barack Obama has pretty much sealed the deal, Hillary Clinton continues to motor on in her full speed crash to getting drunk on the White House lawn and being allowed to sleep on the couch. “Just for one night” please, she’ll say. Then at 3am she will go and grab the red phone and drunkenly nuke Iran.
It’s not a bad idea for Hillary to stay in the race because who knows, Barack could get assassinated or something, especially having to campaign in West Virginia and Kentucky, not exactly bastions of any kind of progressive thinking. Besides, those states are Hillary country, filled with lots of “Joe six packs” and she is leading Barack by a zillion points there.
So let’s have a look at West Virginia this week, specifically democratic senator Robert Byrd. Robert Byrd is the democratic version of Strom Thurmond when he was alive before dying at the ripe old age of a thousand. At 91 years old, Byrd is currently the longest serving member of the Senate, having represented West Virginia since 1959. He is also a former Klu Klux Klan member and get this, he is President pro tempore of the Senate making him third in line to the presidency behind Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi!
Senator Byrd was in the KKK during the 40’s and deeply opposed the integration of blacks into the army saying “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.” Yikes! He also said “I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side.”
While Byrd left the KKK, he opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While Byrd has apologized for these things, it was only a few years ago that on the Senate floor he said “there are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time.”
Congratulations on what will be a landslide victory in West Virginia on Tuesday Senator Clinton!
photo credit: my personal collection
9 Comments
Byrd is higher in the succession than the senate majority leader? That’s a piece of information I didn’t know…
hey buddy, you are the one that is racist.
TT-Yup, that’s a little known fact. I forgot that until recently actually.
link-racist towards whites? Not sure about that since I am white and have previously always voted for white candidates. Except this year because I feel Obama is the best candidate. I think there is a problem that Clinton looks like she will win WV by 40 points. That’s WAY off the national average where Obama leads by 4.
You called it.
NYT Exposes West Virginia as racists.
(see front page above the fold story today)
Thanks for pointing that out! Here’s the link if anyone else is interested to read it http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/us/politics/14dems.html?ref=todayspaper
I thought it was interesting that Hillary brought up Byrd in her victory speech. She said she sat down with him that morning and told him all about her campaigning in West Virginia and he had a big smile on his face. Aww, how cute.
AS a European I’m just fascinated by the cost of this campaigning. Still, I guess it feeds the economy…
Hey Geoff, I’ve been appalled about the cost of American political campaigns for years, this one is just beyond words.
From my understanding most of the money goes towards 30-second television commercials, so it really only feeds a part of the economy that really doesn’t need anymore money =/
TT-Yes, that and private jets for the candidates and their families!