Robert C Byrd has a book coming out

[Rose Siding]

"Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency."

Due out this year. What a good pairing of author to subject! There will be some world class slicing and dicing going on. :D

Just a blurb-

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040614_2028.html

[Cheswick2.0]

1. that is a book I will buy

Draft Byrd!!

[Fenris]

2. Wooo Hoooo!

Go Senator Byrd!

[LittleApple81]

3. And Bob Graham also. I know he was going to be talking about

it in some liberal radio program (they talked about it in Laura Flander's on Sunday) but apparently it is coming out much later in the year (incomplete info here sorry). But anyway, the person said: if you think John Dean was pissed, wait until you see Graham's book!

[Career Prole]

4. Blurb? We don't need no steenkin' blurb...

I'll buy it!
Senator Byrd helped me keep up my hopes when all seemed lost, when bush*'s numbers just kept going up in the face of all the evidence of his mistakes.
What a great orator...one of the best ever, IMO. :D

[FleshCartoon]

5. I'm torn over Senator Byrd.

I have been an admirer of his--nay, a cheerleader. I've emailed him countless times thanking him for standing up to Bush when he was the only one actively doing so after 9/11 cramped nearly everyone's criticisms.

But, just a month or so ago, I found out about his connection to the KKK when he was a younger man. And I was floored and devastated. I almost wanted to email him and berate him for running for office when he had this in his background.

Is anyone else having trouble reconciling these two warring perceptions of Senator Byrd?

[MattNC]

6. i tend to look past it

Is it forgivable? No. But I also accept that he belonged to it long ago and like many people who were bigoted during the 60's, he's changed his ways.

[nostamj]

8. i'm glad you never did anything in your youth

that you learned from and have since totally rebuked.

we should all be so morally pure, but, few of us are.

and far fewer of us have demonstrated the courage and intelligence in speaking TRUTH to POWER that Senator BYRD has....

but, maybe you still obsess on the blue dress too, to the exclusion of all else regarding Clinton.

[FleshCartoon]

12. What the hell?

I didn't suggest that I'm morally pure. But I am from Mississippi and am quite familiar with prejudice up front and the KKK in general.

I know that many people who have associated with them typically don't change that much, except in how careful they are to cover their previous prejudice--Trent Lott comes to mind. I don't, however, think Senator Byrd is much like Trent Lott.

You don't have to chastise me--I know he's a powerful speaker and a poet, and he's called Bush out when no other had the bravery to do so. I certainly have respected Robert Byrd, but I was very disappointed that he served with the KKK and I make no apologies to you for that.

As for the blue dress, I can only assume that you're implying that I'm a closet Republican or a troll. I'm not. But thanks for showing me that you can keep an open mind when someone expresses a doubt about one of your heroes--Senator Byrd was one of mine as well, but the KKK thing has floored me, and I'm not quite over the shock of it yet.

[nostamj]

18. it was SIXTY years ago

put it in perspective. it is NOT that 'flooring'

unless, you prefer to align yourself with those who use this feeble, pathetic, ignorant (and, remember, that's not 'stupid') argument to demean the greatest orator and patriot currently in the Senate.

have you read the speeches? or just the RW KKK slurs? which are, remember, SIXTY years old.

how old are you?

[FleshCartoon]

26. I'm forty.

And you obviously aren't reading my posts.

The arguments aren't that feeble.

I said that I practically worshipped the man. Do you think I haven't read or listened to his speeches? How the hell would I have known what he said, then? What would I have based my respect for him on other than that. And I do know about his voting record, as well.

But.

I am still upset to learn of his affiliation with that organization. Being a Southerner, I know far too many people whose prejudice is mostly just upbringing more than true bigotry. Does that excuse it? To some it does, and to others, it doesn't.

But these people haven't run for office. These people haven't been my heroes.

Do you honestly not understand the point I'm making, or are you just feeling froggy enough to jump because your kneejerk reaction tells you that I'm attacking Senator Byrd?

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

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[Kanary]

34. I understand your reaction, because I felt the same.

It's hard to reconcile such two different sides to the same person. We all have our shadow side, but that is ... beyond the pale, so to speak.

Your shock is understandable..... it means you care about others, and can understand the pain caused by this sort of thing. That kind of sensitivity is so rare anymore, and is valuable. It also creates this kind of shock.

I appreciate your sense of dislocation. Just give yourself some time...... it's all difficult.

Thanks for your honesty...... :hi:

Kanary

[Cheswick2.0]

25. Oh the drama

Something that happened 60 years ago floored you?

[Yupster]

19. I wasn't perfect when I was a young man either

But at least I never joined the F*****G Ku Klux Klan.

I wish the old racist no ill will, but at the same time, I don't think he should be anywhere near places where laws are made.

[Pastiche423]

9. Why not educate yourself

on the mistake Senator Robert C. Byrd has admitted he made over sixty fucking years ago?

The Senator's book will be a prized posession of mine always.

Signed,

One of his heros

[FleshCartoon]

15. I think "heroes" has an "e" in it.

Why not educate yourself?

[nostamj]

21. feeble.

feeble feeble.

you have nothing but a typo in response? FEEBLE.

[jonnyblitz]

10. he is a major homophobe.

as viruntly anti-gay as your average christian right asshole.

[nostamj]

14. Byrd-bashers on DU, who can't even SPELL

make me SICK. "viruntly" ??? (clue: spellcheck would be YOUR friend)

go and read his speeches (ALL OF THEM), and come back and apologize.

he's an old man from a different era but his articulate, passionate, and accurate assaults on BUSH are an example to us all.

he's forgotten more about the Constitution and American history than you're ever likely to know.

and I'm as gay as they get, thanks.

[FleshCartoon]

20. Jesus H. Christ.

I'm not a Byrd basher--I just expressed concern about his KKK connections, which I very recently found out about.

Did none of you read in my initial post that I'd been a firm supporter of his who'd emailed him repeatedly praising him?

Are some of you honestly not able to understand how finding something like that out about someone you frigging hero worshipped could be upsetting? I'll get over it, but I'm not over it yet.

My initial post wasn't to bash him, but to find out if there were others who had adored him but become confused by this fact about him.

To those who can't discern the difference between bashing and an expressed concern--get a grip on yourselves.

[nostamj]

23. if you had done an iota of research

you would never have brought that long-closed issue up.

that's ignorance. SIXTY YEARS ago. and long on-the-record ashamed about it.

bush never apologized for his 'youthful indescretions'

you ARE bashing BYRD whether you think so or not.

the freeps are gathering your quotes as we type (again)

[FleshCartoon]

31. First of all...

...I think many posters on this board worry too much about what the freepers think.

Freeping the freepers seems pretty silly to me. As does trying to outdo them in these little CNN polls.

I'm not bashing Byrd. You have your opinion, I have mine.

But I do feel that I have taken this thread off-topic, so I will retire from it. I apologize to the originator of this thread for taking it off-topic. I honestly didn't expect my little emotional query to become such a scandal and turn the thread askew that much.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

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[Cheswick2.0]

28. Oh please

I became confused

I didn't know what to think when I found out .....blah blah blah

I wasn't asking the offensive question to bash anyone... I am just here trying to learn!! :cry:

[Dookus]

16. really?

What anti-gay legislation has he sponsored?

Can you link us a speech or article in which he's as anti-gay as the "average christian right asshole"?

[Dookus]

11. he has

made his apologies for his experience with the KKK. He has explained why he joined,and he has expressed extreme shame over it. He doesn't try to hide it, he doesn't deny it, he explains it, apologizes, and looks forward. He has been an exemplary senator.

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. Byrd PUBLICLY...on TV, apologized

for his dealings with the KKK. To me, it takes a BIG MAN to do that. He's ashamed of it and has said so. I forgive him his indiscretions when he was younger. He at least sees the error of his ways.....does Trent Lott? Bob Barr? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, they do not. Did Jessie Helms? Nooooo, he did not. Bob Byrd deserves to be forgiven...he has since done a lot of good for our party and country. If you look at his voting record, you may be surprised. IMCPO.

[Cheswick2.0]

24. Over something he did 60 years ago after being raised in the south?

I should be conflicted over something he has apologized for, that happened 60 years ago? No, he evolved from that poor working class southern atmosphere he grew up in. I have no conflict at all.

[murielm99]

27. Hugo Black, a great Supreme Court Justice, was also

once a Klan member. It caused an uproar when it came out.

Black strongly supported civil rights, and was known especially for his support of the rights of free speech, as defined in the first amendment.

Some people change.

[nostamj]

30. "Some people change"

some DUers can't grasp that.

they prefer the steadfast, "i'm not gonna change my mind" mantra of the RW. very very sad.

[hlthe2b]

35. So, you don't believe people can change?

I believe he has renounced that past and has been a champion for civil rights since then. Does that not count at all? Byrd grew up in the segregated South. Emersed in a society with racist social norms, that he had to evolve in his views is really not surprising to me.

Even Lincoln had an evolution of his views on slavery during his life: In 1837 he introduced a resolution to the legislature that said that slavery was wrong, based on a bad policy, but that efforts to abolish it would make things worse. This continued to be Lincoln's policy until the start of the Civil War.

During the 1840s Lincoln continued to think of slavery as being normal. He believed that if slavery was not allowed to expand, it would eventually die. In the Republican platform of 1860, it was stated that in the matter of slavery, the federal government could not interfere. Finally, as a war measure and with the authority of the president, "Honest Abe" issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It stated that all slaves of the Southern states in rebellion were free. This had no effect in the loyal slave states, such as Missouri. Lincoln insisted that the Thirteenth Amendment be part of the Republican party platform. He also worked hard to get Congress to amend the Constitution. Leading the way, Illinois was the first state to ratify it, and in December 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. By then, however, Lincoln was dead.


So, was Lincoln bad because he went along with slavery early on? Is Robert C. Byrd to be judged only on his early life and views to the exclusion of the evolution of his views and deeds throughout most of his adult life?

I think Republicans are too ready to ignore those aspects of their leaders and icons which don't mesh with their ideals. Democrats, Libs, Progressives are often just the opposite, expecting unrealistic levels of perfection from their leadership.

[nostamj]

7. oh my.....

Bush will be out of office before I catch up on all the books!

(i'm OK with that though)

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. Hot Damn!

I am going to have a shitload of books to read. Can we pre-order this on Amazon yet...I wonder? I'll go check!

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. Pre-Order at Amazon! Here's a link....

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393059421/qid=1087271729/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9703726-4625626?v=glance&s=books

Here's a review from Amazon.......

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Attacks on the Bush presidency have proliferated in recent months, but few critics bring to the argument the weight of Senator Byrd (D-W.Va.), who has served under 11 presidents. Few combine his scholar's understanding of constitutional government with the experience gained in his nearly half-century of Senate tenure. Of course, it must be noted that Byrd is a veteran Democratic leader now attacking a Republican president during an election year. In his view, Bush and his advisers—Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Perle and Cheney—are dangerous not merely because their policies are ill conceived, but because they are intent on usurping the powers of the "the People's Branch of Government," Congress—refusing, for instance, to let Tom Ridge testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the proposed Department of Homeland Security. To Byrd the Constitution's checks and balances and the powers of the legislative branch, including the power of the purse and the power to declare war, have kept America a safe and functioning democracy. He argues, offering a series of instances, that the Bush administration is systematically, relentlessly and with stubborn arrogance making a mockery of these constitutional mandates through subterfuge, warmongering and intimidation of a Congress that is "cowed, timid, and deferential." Byrd is forthrightly critical of President Bush, charging him with "political mendacity" and saying that, in comparison with the other presidents he has known, "Bush #43 was in a class by himself—ineptitude supreme." This volume is a searing criticism, informed by Byrd's knowledge of history, leavened with his vast experience and written with his legendary rhetorical flourish.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, author of a four-volume history of the U.S. Senate, has served in the Congress for fifty-one years, forty-five of them as a senator.

Book Description
A ringing call to action by one of the country's longest serving and most respected legislators.
In the months and years following September 11, Senator Robert C. Byrd has viewed with alarm what he considers to be a "slow unraveling of the people's liberties," when all dissenting voices were stilled and awesome power swung suddenly to the president to fight a "war on terror."

This path violates historic American principles—it shows no regard for the balance of powers or the role of the Congress; it invades our privacy; and it eliminates public participation in and understanding of government. Swept along, we have entered a war without proper consideration and rushed dangerous legislation through Congress.

Now is the time to regain the Constitution, to return to the values and processes that made America great. Byrd does not shrink from speaking the truth to an ever more aggressive and imperial White House.

[Rose Siding]

36. That's a strong write up

"Bush #43 was in a class by himself—ineptitude supreme."

What a gift. Whoever reads the book will have a greater understanding of the Constitutional republic.