Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, Ex-Klansman
by Michelle Malkin (March 8, 2001)
Ex-Klansman Robert Byrd, the senior senator from West Virginia, casually
used the phrase "white nigger" twice on national TV this weekend. Enraged
civil rights groups organized a protest campaign against Sen. Byrd and
demanded that he undergo sensitivity training ... not.
The ex-Klansman, you see, is a Democrat. Democrats can join hate groups
and
utter the ugliest racial slurs and get away with it because they are
Democrats. They belong to the party of racial tolerance and understanding.
They're paragons of virtue, and the rest of us are bigoted rubes.
The ex-Klansman showed his true colors when asked by Fox News Sunday
morning
talk show host Tony Snow about the state of race relations in America.
Sen.
Byrd warned: "There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in
my time. I'm going 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."
The ex-Klansman, famed for Beltway blowhardism, should have quit talking a
lot sooner. Why any prominent politician in his right mind would publicly
and deliberately use the poisonous epithet "nigger" -- which most daily
newspapers refuse to spell out, no matter the context -- is beyond
comprehension. It's an open question as to whether the rant-prone,
83-year-old Byrd is even in his right mind, but senility doesn't excuse
bigotry.
The ex-Klansman's admirers praise his historical knowledge, mastery of
procedural rules, and outspokenness. They refer to the Senate's senior
Democrat as the "conscience of the Senate." They downplay his
white-sheet-wearing days as a "brief mistake" -- as if joining the Klan
were
like knocking over a glass of water. Oopsy.
This ex-Klansman wasn't just a passive member of the nation's most
notorious
hate group. According to news accounts and biographical information, Sen.
Byrd was a "Kleagle" -- an official recruiter who signed up members for
$10
a head. He said he joined because it "offered excitement" and because the
Klan was an "effective force" in "promoting traditional American values."
Nothing like the thrill of gathering 'round a midnight bonfire, roasting
s'mores, tying nooses, and promoting white supremacy with a bunch of your
hooded friends.
The ex-Klansman allegedly ended his ties with the group in 1943. He may
have
stopped paying dues, but he continued to pay homage to the KKK.
Republicans
in West Virginia discovered a letter Sen. Byrd had written to the Imperial
Wizard of the KKK three years after he says he abandoned the group. He
wrote: "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 Union."
The ex-Klansman later filibustered the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act --
sup****ted by a majority of those "mean-spirited" Republicans -- for more
than 14 hours. He also opposed the nominations of the Supreme Court's two
black justices, liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence
Thomas.
In fact, the ex-Klansman had the gall to accuse Justice Thomas of
"injecting
racism" into the Senate hearings. Meanwhile, author Graham Smith recently
discovered another letter Sen. Byrd wrote after he quit the KKK, this time
attacking desegregation of the armed forces.
The ex-Klansman vowed never to fight "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."
If this ex-Klansman were a conservative Republican, he would never hear
the
end of his sordid past. "Ex-Klansman who opposed civil rights and black
justices" would appear in every reference to Sen. Byrd. And even the "ex-"
would be in doubt. Maxine Waters and Ralph Neas and Julianne Malveaux and
Al
Sharpton and all the other left-wing bloodhounds who sniff racism in every
crevice of American life would be barking up a storm over Sen. Byrd's
latest
fulminations. Instead, the attack dogs are busy decrying latent racial
bigotry where it doesn't exist, while the real thing roams wild and free
in
their own political backyard.
Malkin is a graduate of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. She lives with
her
husband in North Bethesda, MD.
--
"I found it hard to believe the Senator (Teddy Kennedy) had been in a
major
automobile accident that killed Mary Jo Kapechne. His face bore no traces
of
any marks. He never sat down or appeared in any kind of physical
discomfort.
If he had been injured, in shock, or confused, nothing of it lingered in
our
meeting, to my observation."
- Police Chief Dominick Arena
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