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| Robert C. Byrd: "a powerful man who abandoned his bigoted principles in order to keep power" |
| 2010-07-02 |
| Jonah Goldberg, National Review It is a good rule of thumb not to speak ill of the dead. But what to do when a man is celebrated beyond the limits of decorum or common sense? Must we stay silent as others celebrate the beauty and splendor of the emperor’s invisible clothes? You probably know why I ask the question. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of the Senate in American history, died Monday. It was truly a remarkable career. But what’s more remarkable is how he has been lionized by the champions of liberalism. ...The common interpretation is that Byrd’s is a story of redemption. A one-time Exalted Cyclops of the KKK, Byrd recruited some 150 members to the chapter he led — that’s led, not “joined,” by the way. (If you doubt his commitment to the cause, try to recruit 150 people to do anything, never mind have them pay a hefty fee up front.) Byrd filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As Bruce Bartlett notes in his book Wrong on Race, Byrd knew he would fail, but he stood on bedrock principle that integration was evil. His individual filibuster, the second longest in American history, fills 86 pages of fine print in the Congressional Record. “Only a true believer,” writes Bartlett, “would ever undertake such a futile effort.” Unlike some segregationists’, Byrd’s arguments rested less on the principle of states’ rights than on his conviction that black people were simply biologically inferior. Sure, he lied for years about his repudiation of the Klan. Sure, he was still referring to “white niggers” as recently as 2001. But everyone agrees his change of heart is sincere. And for all I know, it was. What’s odd is what passes for proof of his sincerity. Yes, he voted to make Martin Luther King Day a holiday. But to listen to some eulogizers, the real proof came in the fact that he supported ever more lavish government programs — and opposed the Iraq War. Am I alone in taking offense at the idea that supporting big government and opposing the Iraq War somehow count as proof of racial enlightenment? Robert Byrd was a complicated man, but the explanation for the outsized celebration of his career strikes me as far more simple. He was a powerful man who abandoned his bigoted principles in order to keep power. And his party loved him for it. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #6 Remember that Bill Clinton's mentor was the infamous Governor Orville Faubus, who called out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent school integration; only to be soundly whupped by president Eisenhower and the 101st Airborne Division. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-07-02 18:25 |
| #5 The 1st black President said: "He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia. He was trying to get elected," former President Bill Clinton said of Sen. Robert Byrd. "And maybe he did something he shouldn't have done come and he spent the rest of his life making it up. And that's what a good person does. There are no perfect people. There are certainly no perfect politicians," he added. LOL Billuah is go all emo for Bobby. Damnn BRB Gotta price a 37 oz. Louisville slugger, lathe and sledge. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-07-02 18:18 |
| #4 Robert Byrd was a complicated man LOL, rite. The Big Handy Book of Snappy Latin spoken in Southron don't make you complicated. He was a racist dick, I'm glad he's dead. What took so damn long? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-07-02 15:17 |
| #3 Armyguy, yes, that... a special kind of hell. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2010-07-02 11:13 |
| #2 There is no absolution. He will be in good company with ted kennedy. |
| Posted by: armyguy 2010-07-02 10:28 |
| #1 Byrd realized that the Democrat's soft racism brings better results and provides a better absolution cover. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2010-07-02 09:55 |