Posted on 01/20/2005 9:06:44 AM PST by kattracks
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi found herself on the defensive Thursday morning over the decision by Senate Democrats to put former Ku Klux Klansman, Sen. Robert Byrd, in charge of efforts to derail the confirmation of Secretary of State-nominee Condoleezza Rice.
"I don't think that whatever Sen. Byrd is doing has anything to do with his sad past," Pelosi told WWRL radio hosts Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter. Instead, said the San Francisco Democrat, the one-time Grand Kleagel was acting out of concern that the advise and consent role of the Senate in presidential appointments was being overlooked.
In a move that was seen by many as an insult to the first black woman ever appointed Secretary of State, Sen. Byrd announced his decision to hold up her confirmation late Wednesday, saying it needed more debate before the full Senate.
Rep. Pelosi insisted that Byrd's extraordinary move had nothing to do with his long history of public racism, but was instead a reflection of his opposition to the Iraq war.
"They're confirming a Secretary of State in a time of war. [Byrd's] views on the war and his opposition to it are well known," she said.
Still, Byrd's "sad history," as Pelosi described it, makes him a particularly bad choice to lead the assault on Rice.
As recently as 2001, the West Virginia Democrat was forced to apologize after blurting out during a nationally televised interview, "There are white n****rs, I've seen a lot of white n****rs in my time. I'm going to use that word."
In 1972, Byrd pushed to have the Senate's main office building named after Dixiecrat Sen. Richard Russell - a leading opponent of anti-lynching legislation who Byrd called "my mentor."
Byrd filibustered the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act for 14 straight hours.
Three years after he said he'd left his white-sheeted brethren behind, he wrote to Georgia's Grand Imperial Wizard urging: "The Klan is needed today as never before."
Sen. Byrd was also a fierce opponent of desegregating the military, complaining in one letter ."I should rather die a thousand times and see old glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen of the wilds."
Fertile ground here for some of your Dirty Byrd graphic arts!:)
Never forget why is this man in the United States Senate ...
Because he is a Democrat ...
Pelosi defends the DemoKKKrat, Byrd.
DEmocrats NEVER say anything about their colleagues. EXcept folks like Zell Miller who leave congress.
Republicans eat their own...astonishing.
This taken together with Biden's racist parody in the confirmation hearings have me convinced that the democrats are trying to bait the republicans into going off message; get into race dialog which they feel they have a stereotypical advantage. In any case they are trying to disrupt our momentum, create a distraction. Let's not rise to the bait.
Oh, no. They appreciate all races. As long as they stay on the plantation.
Thanks, Grampa. Surprised it's not already here.
From the article:
In a move that was seen by many as an insult to the first black woman ever appointed Secretary of State, Sen. Byrd announced his decision to hold up her confirmation late Wednesday, saying it needed more debate before the full Senate.
Rep. Pelosi insisted that Byrd's extraordinary move had nothing to do with his long history of public racism, but was instead a reflection of his opposition to the Iraq war.
"They're confirming a Secretary of State in a time of war. [Byrd's] views on the war and his opposition to it are well known," she said.
Former KKK Clansman,
Senator Robert Byrd……See this Michelle Malkin article about Robert Byrd from March 7, 2001
Great!
Just have it ready to use as Free Republic educates the world re the racism of Dirty Byrd, Boxer, Pelosi Galore and other limo rat racists.
It's always ready in my Word file, just a copy/paste away. :^D
Looks like they were serious when they said the Democrats were going to get back to the foundation of their party and communicate it better.
Looks like they found it, The Racism of the Democrats of the 50s and 60s. Who better to lead them than the KKK man himself Robert Byrd.
Quick someone get a mic infront of Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson-Lee.
At least he isn't going to lynch her.
is Byrd related to Harry F Byrd who received 15 electoral votes in 1960?
I'd guess all the Byrds of Virginia are related going back to Colonial times.
Yes and he could even burn a cross on the Senate floor, yet Boxer & the Rice-a-Roni Liberal Pelosi would still applaud him.
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