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Robert Byrd, longest-serving member of Congress, dead at 92

What vile, unforgivable things?

:roll: Knock it off, will ya? You know exactly what I'm talking about.

I realize that it might not mean much to you, as Archbishop of the Church of Byrd, but some of us actually do care about the perspective of racial minorities.
 
RIP to the man. Didn't agree with him much, but that matters very little right now. Thoughts are with his family.
 
:roll: Knock it off, will ya? You know exactly what I'm talking about.

I realize that it might not mean much to you, as Archbishop of the Church of Byrd, but some of us actually do care about the perspective of racial minorities.

Ahh... we've already been over this. It wasn't unforgivable. Obviously. He actually saw the error of his ways, unlike most politicians.

Archbishop of the church of byrd? LMFAO He's a ****ing Democrat. I disagreed with him much more than I agreed with him. (same could be said for me and Republicans, though)

Anywho, I don't condemn people who make mistakes and learn from them. Especially when they admit it to a national audience. I also don't condemn people who learn from experience and change their world views accordingly.
 
Ahh... we've already been over this. It wasn't unforgivable. Obviously. He actually saw the error of his ways, unlike most politicians.

Yeah, right. So he was in the KKK when it was politically expedient for him to do so, then left it when it was politically expedient, filibustered the Civil Rights Act when it was politically expedient then changed his mind about that as soon as it became politically expedient. Notice a pattern there? The only thing he "learned" from his mistakes was how to better game the system, and game the system he did. If he had a sincere change of heart we've got no evidence of it, it's much more likely he was just going whichever way the wind blew. Unless you take everything a politician says at face value, in which case I've got a bridge to sell you...

Archbishop of the church of byrd? LMFAO He's a ****ing Democrat. I disagreed with him much more than I agreed with him. (same could be said for me and Republicans, though)

I know it's been gone over already, like I said I read through the thread. I wish I'd been by when you were making these absurd claims the first time around, but I still am going to take a crack at you over them. I don't care if you're a Democrat or not, when you make excuses for racism you have to answer for it. Personally I don't get a **** about his pork barrel spending or anything like that. Maybe he had a change of heart, but that doesn't matter one bit, he was on the wrong side of civil rights. It wasn't any more acceptable when Thurmond or Lott did it either. Lott even apologized IIRC, and still got booted. The Democrats should be ashamed at their hypocrisy here.

Anywho, I don't condemn people who make mistakes and learn from them. Especially when they admit it to a national audience.

I'm going to hold you to that. ;) I wonder if you felt the same way about Obama and Rev. Wright?
 
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Yeah, right. So he was in the KKK when it was politically expedient for him to do so,
Yeah.... before he even started a political career. :roll: He was in the KKK for all of a year.

then left it when it was politically expedient, filibustered the Civil Rights Act when it was politically expedient then changed his mind about that as soon as it became politically expedient. Notice a pattern there? The only thing he "learned" from his mistakes was how to better game the system, and game the system he did. If he had a sincere change of heart we've got no evidence of it, it's much more likely he was just going whichever way the wind blew. Unless you take everything a politician says at face value, in which case I've got a bridge to sell you...

You infer "political expediency" from his actions. It's easy to infer that he was a man who actually let education and experience change his worldview. You consider that a shortcoming, I find it the exact opposite.

And, as I've stated, I couldn't ****ing care less what his personal views were. Irrelevant. As long as his policies reflected the views of his electorate, that's all that matters.
 
You infer "political expediency" from his actions. It's easy to infer that he was a man who actually let education and experience change his worldview. You consider that a shortcoming, I find it the exact opposite.
Incorrect. I infer "political expediency" not from his actions but from the timing of his actions. Had he dropped out of the KKK and gone on to become a crusader for civil rights then it'd be a whole different thing. But we're talking an Dixiecrat who said whatever needed to be said at the time to maintain his Senate seat, nothing more.

And, as I've stated, I couldn't ****ing care less what his personal views were. Irrelevant. As long as his policies reflected the views of his electorate, that's all that matters.

That's pretty cynical of you, but I appreciate your honesty.
 
Incorrect. I infer "political expediency" not from his actions but from the timing of his actions. Had he dropped out of the KKK and gone on to become a crusader for civil rights then it'd be a whole different thing.
LOL He was still a racist when he dropped out of the KKK.

But we're talking an Dixiecrat who said whatever needed to be said at the time to maintain his Senate seat, nothing more.
As long as his actions followed suit, that's all that matters.


That's pretty cynical of you, but I appreciate your honesty.
How is it cynical? I simply don't care what an elected official's personal beliefs are. I only care about their policies.
 
LOL He was still a racist when he dropped out of the KKK.

Sarcasm? I'm not sure I understand you. He was still a racist after he dropped out of the KKK, and more importantly pursued racist policies for the next two decades or so.


How is it cynical? I simply don't care what an elected official's personal beliefs are. I only care about their policies.

You don't think it's important that politicians honestly believe in what they say? I call that cynical. I mean, that's the very definition of cynical.
 
Sarcasm? I'm not sure I understand you. He was still a racist after he dropped out of the KKK, and more importantly pursued racist policies for the next two decades or so.
Yes, he was. That was my point. You said something about he should have join in with the civil rights movement. I'm telling you that his racial position remained relatively unchanged, however his opinion of the Klan definitely had changed. If he had gone from the Klan to a civil rights leader, that would not only have been remarkable, but completely dishonest since it's doubtful his beliefs would have changed that drastically in only one year's time. His changes came about slowly, honestly. Over the course of decades.


You don't think it's important that politicians honestly believe in what they say? I call that cynical. I mean, that's the very definition of cynical.
Depends on what they're saying. For instance, I'd have no issue with Byrd if he says he thinks that jews are inferior, but that he has no inclination to enact legislation discriminating against them. How is that not "honestly believing what they say"? Or someone who says they are personally against abortion and find it abhorrent, but have no desire to enact legislation to enforce that personal belief on the populace. How is that cynical? Cynism is based in distrust. What I'm saying has nothing at all to do with trust.

Holding a personal belief and having the desire or inclination to enact legislation forcing that personal belief on others are two entirely different things.
 
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As far as Robert Byrd goes, I'm glad he's dead. He's part of the reason most young Americans are so disenchanted with government. It is crowded by too many people who would have been forced to retire in ANY other field of work.

As far as his race politics go. He was a racist when he was young, but hey, Bush was a heavy drinker in his age and Charlie Wilson was a womanizer. We all make mistakes. It's what you do after them that determines whether or not you've changed. He certainly changed his with actions.
 
Didn't see this previously:

I know it's been gone over already, like I said I read through the thread. I wish I'd been by when you were making these absurd claims the first time around, but I still am going to take a crack at you over them. I don't care if you're a Democrat or not, when you make excuses for racism you have to answer for it. Personally I don't get a **** about his pork barrel spending or anything like that. Maybe he had a change of heart, but that doesn't matter one bit, he was on the wrong side of civil rights. It wasn't any more acceptable when Thurmond or Lott did it either. Lott even apologized IIRC, and still got booted. The Democrats should be ashamed at their hypocrisy here.
I'm not making excuses for anything. I'm stating that his views and policies changed over time in accordance to the changing TIMES. He did not hold on like a bulldog to outdated policies, he changed, he grew, he admitted mistakes of his past.

I'm going to hold you to that. ;) I wonder if you felt the same way about Obama and Rev. Wright?
I don't recall making any judgement on Obama regarding Wright. I don't recall really caring about it at all. I had legitimate reasons not to want Obama in office.
 
As far as his race politics go. He was a racist when he was young, but hey, Bush was a heavy drinker in his age and Charlie Wilson was a womanizer. We all make mistakes. It's what you do after them that determines whether or not you've changed. He certainly changed his with actions.

This is well said and bears repeating. We all make mistakes when we are younger. Some grow past those mistakes, so do not. Byrd apparently managed to grow past the mistakes of his youth.
 
He's well liked in WV because he's one of our own. He was raised in a small coal mining town by coal miners (and btw, he was born in NC), he went to local colleges. He came from humble roots, like just about everyone in WV does, and that was certainly part of his appeal. Yes, he was in the KKK in his younger years, but I applaud his candor about that time. He made a mistake and he came to understand and acknowledge that. Who here hasn't changed their views over the years?



As for the naming of roads, etc... yeah, there's a lot of **** named after him. And no, the "people" of WV don't do the naming, but our elected officials do. The people CAN recommend names and have.

Do you think the Democrats would have been so understanding if Byrd had been a Republican?
 
”STROM THURMOND, FOE OF INTEGRATION, DIES AT 100.”

vs

“ROBERT BYRD, RESPECTED VOICE OF THE SENATE, DIES AT 92.”


“Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a one-time Democratic segregationist who helped fuel the rise of the modern conservative Republican Party in the South, died Thursday."

vs

“Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virgina, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, died Monday. He was 92.”






Gotta love the mainstream liberal media. Never let a dishonest moment go by, even with memorials.
 
Do you think the Democrats would have been so understanding if Byrd had been a Republican?

Who knows? I don't really care since I dislike both Dems and Repubs pretty much equally. I don't really care to speculate who would have said what if xyz happened since I'm not sure how that's helpful or constructive.
 
Pork ladened ku klucking bigot.....


The country is better with him out of the senate.

Think they will bury him in his hood and burn a cross at the service

Other than FDR and LBJ, you would be hard pressed to find someone who is more responsible for the deficit than that clown
 
This is well said and bears repeating. We all make mistakes when we are younger. Some grow past those mistakes, so do not. Byrd apparently managed to grow past the mistakes of his youth.

being a racist is a personal failure

being a pork grubbing corrupt politician costs us all money

he gave up one vice for a far more costly one
 
being a racist is a personal failure

being a pork grubbing corrupt politician costs us all money

he gave up one vice for a far more costly one

And nowhere will you see me condoning his pork habit. Now those who act like he is still a KKK type, that is a different manner.
 
And nowhere will you see me condoning his pork habit. Now those who act like he is still a KKK type, that is a different manner.

we have no disagreement on this point
 
He's well liked in WV because he's one of our own. He was raised in a small coal mining town by coal miners (and btw, he was born in NC), he went to local colleges. He came from humble roots, like just about everyone in WV does, and that was certainly part of his appeal. Yes, he was in the KKK in his younger years, but I applaud his candor about that time. He made a mistake and he came to understand and acknowledge that. Who here hasn't changed their views over the years?

Name the Republican who was in the KKK who was lauded by Democrats and revered as a great leader.

Byrd, a Memorial to why Senators should never be allowed to have more than two terms.
 
And nowhere will you see me condoning his pork habit. Now those who act like he is still a KKK type, that is a different manner.

You mean like when Byrd got a free pass for talking about white niggers?

Yes, that's a clear sign of a "reformed" Klansman, isn't it.

Hint: Byrd has been reformed for less than 24 hours.
 
My personal view on racism, Byrd and the south:

Just because people around you do something doesn't mean you have to. . . Ad Populum is not an excuse!
If you're a moral, decent person from the get go then you will distance yourself from all wrong doing. . . no matter what climate you're in or what pressure you feel.

I'll never forgive or excuse Byrd's involvement - shed a tear, say "boohoo" or anything of that nature. He was a politician and politicians will do ANYTHING to get VOTES! When the slaves were emancipated many people who were against them suddenly supported them - because they wanted their VOTES. Obviously his constant churning for support kept him in the running for 50 years too damn long.

Sorry - there are some offenses that are unforgivable to me. . . and being a racist **** in the KKK is one of them.

If he was, at heart, a decent man then God will figure that out :shrug:

To be honest - the only reason why he became a Democrat and claimed to support Obama was because he felt guilty for all the heinous activity he supported and the vile thoughts he continually harbored in his heart and mind. . . . like an addict who can't stop, but knows it's wrong to rob from his family to feed his "need"

Why give him a slide because he "changed" ???
Were Nazi's given a slide? Nope - they were given a rope.
 
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First Murtha, now this filth is removed from his position. I think God is trying to tell us either bring about term limits - or he will. Good riddance.
 
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