Remembering Robert Byrd

I laughed at the quotes from the nineteenth century; as if they're relevant today. The Democrats nominated and elected a Black man. Will the GOP ever do the same. Probably not. I

steve of IL 8:53PM June 30, 2010

You're talking about, Byrd, right? The former KKK member, the fat cat who lived high on the hog from the public trough? He was as conflicted as anyone. If you're going to tell the story, at least tell it true.

david of ID 2:04PM June 30, 2010

There have always been southern Democrats and Northern Democrats since prior to the US Civil War. They were technically part of the very same party but actually functioned like two separate parties. Only after the election of 1964, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in Congress, did the South turn Republican and both southerna and northern Democrats begin to function as one party in practice and ideologically. George Wallace was a Southern Democrat (Dixiecrat) and ran in 1968 presidential election as an independant. In this sense, the Democrats can not be justly blamed for having a history of support for the KKK; southern Democrats were a different breed altoghether and would confirm this fact themselves.

You really have to consider the GOP as racist when they accuse Obama of violating the US Constitution when in fact he hasn't done so even once. Bush violated it many times without a word from the GOP. GITMO was unconstitutional, the military tribunals were unconstitutional (according to a 2006 US Supreme Court decision), the NSA's warrentless wiretaps were unconstitutional as well as Bush's use of executive signing statements to bypass congressional laws. Here is an analysis from the Boston Globe;

"President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research. Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/

Clearly, Bush violated the US Constitution systematically for eight years with no complaints from the GOP or its supporters. Obama is being unjustly attacked and smeared. He's being accused of things he never said, did or believed. This willful misrepresentation of facts and the violent hysteria being whipped up is tantamount to racist incitement. There's plenty of proof of such incitement from the constant racist imagery and inuendo from the Tea party rallies and the GOP itself.

http://gawker.com/5064741/the-racist-anti+obama-gop-newsletter-listicle

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2008/02/20/racist-att

steve of IL 6:54PM June 29, 2010

Byrd staying 50 years in the US Senate, the last ten or more in frail health is the best argument anyone can make for term limits for all federal office holders. He was a good senator who changed some of his positions as he became older, but in the end he stayed too long. No one individual shold hold a position of power as long as he did.

Bob of TX 3:51PM June 29, 2010