Opinion of Robert Carlyle Byrd

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Might as well do this, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd

His past was dark and his early decades in Congress left much to be desired, but he came to be a great senator for his state and it's a shame he'd been too old to serve as Majority Leader when the Democrats won control of the Senate.  He's one of the few people I can say will probably be remembered as one of the country's most beloved senators in history, all the pork and partisanship aside.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

FF for his attempt to filibuster the Iraq War vote
HP for voting for Alito

[ElectionsGuy]

HP (but FF from 2002-Present)

[MATTROSE94]

HP (but FF from 2002-Present)

Pretty much this^ I doubt that I would have ever voted for him though (With the exception of 2006 given that his opponent, John Raese was even worse).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Massive FF (West Virginian family)

[H. Ross Peron]

FF on balance

[Rockefeller GOP]

HP.

[TNF]

muh constitution

HP

[Storebought]

Profoundly negative

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

HP.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

A former Klansman with a long history of racism and using racial slurs who filibustered against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and voted against both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.  HP doesn't even begin to describe him.

[WalterMitty]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

[Rockefeller GOP]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

He wasn't, in any sense of the word, "right wing."  He was a racist liberal Democrat.  I know you like to believe being racist and being liberal are opposites, but they're not.  Sorry.

[BaconBacon96]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

Right wing and a union stooge? I think you're rather confused.

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

He wasn't, in any sense of the word, "right wing."  He was a racist liberal Democrat.  I know you like to believe being racist and being liberal are opposites, but they're not.  Sorry.

Liberal racism is a different beast than his conservative racism.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

F**k, not another empty-headed Oldies clone.

[H. Ross Peron]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

So despite Byrd's segregationist views, your main complaint about him is he was too pro-union...

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

So despite Byrd's segregationist views, your main complaint about him is he was too pro-union...

He was also better on civil liberties and foreign policy issues than arguably most Democrats of his stripe, which of course means he was just too liberal for Walter.

[free my dawg]

voted against both Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.

Clarence Thomas was totally unqualified for the position, and one could make an argument for impeachment for not recusing himself in the Citizens United case (where his wife directly benefited from the organization). Race was not a factor.

As for Byrd, his stance on foreign policy and unions, and general reformation makes him lean FF.

[Maxwell]

hp.

your typical right wing democrat asshat and union stooge.  r.i.p.

Right wing and a union stooge? I think you're rather confused.

Walter is confused, but I'm sure being right wing and being union stooge is certainly possible.

[Rockefeller GOP]

F**k, not another empty-headed Oldies clone.

If you shout that being conservative is racist enough, I guess that it's accepted as fact.  But the fact is Robert Byrd was NOT right wing, and no one with an elementary understanding of politics would argue he was.  Being racist doesn't erase all of his other stances.

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

F**k, not another empty-headed Oldies clone.

If you shout that being conservative is racist enough, I guess that it's accepted as fact.  But the fact is Robert Byrd was NOT right wing, and no one with an elementary understanding of politics would argue he was.  Being racist doesn't erase all of his other stances.

He repudiated his racism though?

Wait, now I remember, being a Democrat automatically makes you a cross-burning card-carrying KKK member who thinks the Holocaust didn't happen but would have been totally awesome. Silly me.

[Rockefeller GOP]

F**k, not another empty-headed Oldies clone.

If you shout that being conservative is racist enough, I guess that it's accepted as fact.  But the fact is Robert Byrd was NOT right wing, and no one with an elementary understanding of politics would argue he was.  Being racist doesn't erase all of his other stances.

He repudiated his racism though?

Wait, now I remember, being a Democrat automatically makes you a cross-burning card-carrying KKK member who thinks the Holocaust didn't happen but would have been totally awesome. Silly me.

No, that's exactly my point - it's incredibly arrogant and stupid to think racism belongs to an ideology.  There are racist Democrats, racist Republicans, racist liberals, racist conservatives, etc.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

F**k, not another empty-headed Oldies clone.

If you shout that being conservative is racist enough, I guess that it's accepted as fact.  But the fact is Robert Byrd was NOT right wing, and no one with an elementary understanding of politics would argue he was.  Being racist doesn't erase all of his other stances.

He repudiated his racism though?

Wait, now I remember, being a Democrat automatically makes you a cross-burning card-carrying KKK member who thinks the Holocaust didn't happen but would have been totally awesome. Silly me.

No, that's exactly my point - it's incredibly arrogant and stupid to think racism belongs to an ideology.  There are racist Democrats, racist Republicans, racist liberals, racist conservatives, etc.

Byrd apologized for his past and ended up doing many good things for his state and race relations

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

No, that's exactly my point - it's incredibly arrogant and stupid to think racism belongs to an ideology.  There are racist Democrats, racist Republicans, racist liberals, racist conservatives, etc.

What you describe as "racist liberals" cannot exist in America. In America, "liberalism" refers to a broadly progressive social democratic ideology which falls on the left of the political spectrum, not the centre-right anti-authoritarian ideology it refers to elsewhere. Leftist ideologies of all stripes ultimately dedicate themselves to achieving balance in society, or, in the case of socialism and communism, complete and total equality. Racism, which seeks to keep a group out of this balance, out of this equality, is therefore inherently antithetical to leftist ideology.