The Significance of Sen. Byrd's Endorsement

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/5/19/131021/106

The Significance of Sen. Byrd's Endorsement

by BooMan
Mon May 19th, 2008 at 01:10:21 PM EST

snip//


Byrd personally filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for 14 solid hours and voted against the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This shameful record has prevented me from ever having warm feelings for Sen. Byrd. I did appreciate his strong principled stand against the invasion of Iraq and I have long respected his knowledge of and love for the Constitution and Senate rules and procedures, but Byrd was strongly on the wrong side of history at a critical time, and I have a hard time forgiving him. In 2005, Byrd remarked:

"I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."

Indeed, he cannot erase what happened, but what better way to atone for his racist past than to endorse Barack Obama less than a week after his state showed extreme racial resistance to Obama's campaign in voting for Clinton by a 41-point margin?

In making this decision, Sen. Byrd has made the ultimate repudiation of his racist and segregationist past. A former Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan who filibustered the Civil Rights Act for fourteen hours has just endorsed a black man with Kenyan roots, the very kind of "race mongrel, {and} throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds" that Byrd once promised to "die a thousand deaths" to prevent from degrading 'Old Glory'. Who can deny the extreme symbolic significance for this endorsement? Sen. Byrd has now truly and wholly repudiated his past, and his legacy will be much redeemed for this act of principle.

[Virginia Dare]

1. Senator Byrd is a very old man..

and in ill health.

I think it's very significant that he is able to make this endorsement before his passing. It's very symbolic as to the strides that we've been able to make in this country, despite the odds.

I congratulate Senator Byrd for this gesture.

[babylonsister]

2. Yes, it's symbolic, especially for him given

his past. I was very happy to read about his endorsement! We've got a long way to go, but we've come a long way. Maybe this will make people in his state rethink their bigotry.

[Yael]

3. To me, this endorsement means more than all of the others combined

Including Carolyn Kennedy and John Edwards.

This sends a tremendous message to the people of his state who revere him so.

[babylonsister]

4. I'm happy for Senator Byrd. I've been reading for

years about his ugly past; people don't like to think about how he's tried to redeem himself, and the good he's done. This will hopefully put some of those people on mute.

[OhioChick]

5. Good to Hear!

K&R

[jillan]

6. That is a huge endorsement.

And :( a slap in the face to Hillary

[democracy1st]

7. kick