Quote:
Originally Posted by FantasticDan
EVERYONE sang his praises when he died. Why did they do that? Because there was a helluva lot to Byrd's character and career that went beyond his early participation in the KKK, something he renounced decades before his death and deeply regretted:
1993 interview:
Q: What has been your biggest mistake and your biggest success?
A: Well, it’s easy to state what has been my biggest mistake. The greatest mistake I ever made was joining the Ku Klux Klan. And I’ve said that many times. But one cannot erase what he has done. He can only change his ways and his thoughts. That was an albatross around my neck that I will always wear. You will read it in my obituary that I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Obama also addressed this at his funeral:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...und-of-fiddles
In his eulogy, President Barack Obama recalled how Byrd was orphaned as an infant and raised by an aunt in deep, coal-country poverty to become the longest-serving member of Congress, casting 19,000 votes and never losing an election.
“Today we remember the path he climbed to such extraordinary peaks,” Obama said. “Transported to Washington, his heart remained here, in the place that shaped him with the people he loved. His heart belonged to you. Making life better here was his only agenda.”
The nation’s first black president also recalled Byrd’s 10 years in the Ku Klux Klan, from 1942 to 1952. Without mentioning the KKK by name, Obama recalled how Byrd apologized personally to him during their initial meeting.
“We know there were things he said, things he did, that he came to regret,” Obama said. “I remember talking about that the first time I visited with him. He said, ‘There were things I regretted in my youth. You may know that.’ I said, ‘None of us are absent some regrets, Senator. That’s why we enjoy and seek the grace of God.’ … Robert Byrd possessed that quintessential American quality — the capacity to change, to learn, to listen, to be made more perfect.”
Of course all this is immaterial to you, all you care about is..
Democrat! Grand Wizard! Gotcha!!
Not realizing that the gotcha at this point is on you..  |
Robert Byrd did very little for WV despite serving fifty years.
West Virginia is exactly the same as it was in 1965. The poorest people in the country live in WV. John Kennedy promised to rehabilitate Appalachia, Byrd and others kept those people in line by handing out trinkets for 50 years.
Just last week I tried to get a relative to move out of WV. He is 40 yrs old and says he cannot “leave his land” he owns a couple hundred acres. He’s nuts
