News Jun 28, 2010 at 6:30 am

Comments

1
I always enjoy your touching posts on the passing of famous individuals. Their name, and "Dead." It never fails to move me.
2
Well, it's pretty hard to get too broken up about a 92-year-old guy croaking. Especially one who wasn't in particularly good health to begin with.
3
At least non of the headlines are "The Unexpected Death of...."

He lived a good life. RIP.
4
That he was born before MLK and outlived him by 42 years is an injustice.
5
this idiot upheld all those idiotic traditions and rules of the senate that allow the filibuster, a/k/a minority rule, a/k/a the rule that just was used again to defeat the dems, what idiots, who couldn't overcome it to pass a jobless benefits bill.

so thanks alot Byrd, you helped 15 million lose their spot in the middle class for good. nice work!

and a bonus: they get so angry and tired of listening to the democratic bullshit, they start voting republican out of pure abandonment by the dems!

hey, gee, ever wonder why our nation sucks?

"Well ayes, suyah, the Rooles and Trahdihtionahs of thaya Senate are a preciouhas thahng...." what a fucking idiot.
6
He lived the American dream -- working right up until he died...
7
Vicious Racist and Partisan Hack dies comfortably in bed, grown fat off of the largess of the taxpayers.

How is this not emblematic of national failure all the way around?
8
So, "Sheets" Byrd has finally been called to that big KKK meeting in the sky.
9
Vicious Racist and Partisan Hack dies comfortably in bed, grown fat off of the largess of the taxpayers.

We are talking about Robert Byrd, not Jesse Helms. Or a whole list of other GOP elected officials.

But the second I saw he died, I thought "Every idiot wingnut is now going to go on and on about Sen Byrd's very brief joining of the KKK when he was a teenager in the early 1900's, while forgetting the the GOP has elected politicians that openly, and currently, align themselves with white supremacist organizations, racist organizations and bigoted organizations." And the wingnuts lived up to it!
10
Um, #9, in addition to his stint in the KKK, Byrd also fought against the Civil Rights Act. Moderate, @7, is not being particularly wingnutty to describe him as a racist and a partisan hack. Moderate's not going on and on, the whole of his post is two sentences. And he's not exactly commenting on the GOP of today, just this one guy. Calm down.
11
I like that the NYT obit highlights how Byrd did his best to keep at bay this imperial-presidency bullshit we mistakenly accept as normal these days.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us/pol…
12
@9 I think you mean moonbat (wingnuts are the right).
13
I know Robert Byrd. He did as much as he could to help deliver money for services and support in West Virginia. He also loved the US and serving the US. he didnt grow rich on it, he wasnt in it to leap into the state for power and then leap right back out again...

and yes, he never really got past the 'I dont see color anymore' point of being a southern white man with his racist upbringing but he loved the US and was horrified by what GBush did.

He was a good guy. I liked him very much. His loss is huge. even for us former west viginians living in seattle.
14
@8, 10: He did come around before he died. I respect a person who has the ability to admit to being wrong and begin working instead towards what is right.
15
@12 No, I meant wingnuts. And they are the ones screaming about Byrd and his previous KKK affiliation as a teenager during the early 1900's while ignoring current GOP elected officials that openly, and currently, align themselves with white supremacist organizations, racist organizations and bigoted organizations.

Yes, he has admitted his racism in a time of institutionalized racism. He has said it was wrong. He has been very open about it. How about the GOP's elected officials. Did Jesse Helms ever say he was wrong? How about all the Dixiecrats whole left the Democratic party to join the racist GOP when the Democratic Party began to openly oppose racism. The wingnuts have selective memories.
16
@15 i misunderstood your point(s), well taken.
17
Byrd was always opposed to gay marriage and opposed to letting gays serve in the military. I don't think he ever changed his mind about that, right?
18
It is worth noting that Byrd was one of the few senators who voted against authorizing Bush's war in Iraq, way back when even Dan Savage and Patty Murray were for it.

It is hard to pigeon-hole him into any one blanket ideology.
19
@13 well said. Find me someone who didnt have flaws in their younger days; the imporant part is learning from your mistakes and working to correct them. Byrd recognized his mistakes and spent the rest of his life apologizing anytime it was brought up. It wasn't a chore or a nuissance for him to apologize, he felt it his duty to answer for anything he did.
20
Reverse Polarity @18: Patty Murray DID NOT vote for the war on Iraq. She gave an incredibly eloquent speech on the floor of the Senate condemning the resolution. Also, I'd say that 23 Senators is more than "a few". Get your facts straight!!!
21
I'd have said something similar about Helms. In fact, I think I did at the time in a different forum.
22
@21
There is a world of difference between Helms and Byrd. Your assessment is as flawed as your are showing yourself to be an idiot.
23
Considering all the pork Byrd funneled into West Virginia, I'm guessing the economy will collapse there now that the supply has been cut off.
24
Your assessment is as flawed as your are showing yourself to be an idiot.


Yes. I'm the idiot. Even giving you the benefit of the assumption that the second 'your' is a typo, the sentence makes your grammar school teachers weep.
25
Does anybody remember Sen. Byrd's vociferous support of DOMA back in '96?
26
Good riddance. May Cheney be the next to go.

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