Clinton Defends Byrd's KKK Ties: "He Was Trying To Get Elected"

RealClearPolitics ^ | July 2, 2010 | RealClearPolitics

[i88schwartz]

He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia. He was trying to get elected," former President Bill Clinton said of Sen. Robert Byrd.

"And maybe he did something he shouldn't have done come and he spent the rest of his life making it up. And that's what a good person does. There are no perfect people. There are certainly no perfect politicians," he added.

[WayneS]

Syphilis?

[Berlin_Freeper]

Compared to Clinton we are all perfect.

[Tamar1973]

Fleeting?! He was like a Grand Dragon something like that. You don’t obtain a high status in any kind of organization because you just want to join a club and have someone to hang out with on a Saturday night.

[andy58-in-nh]

Clinton certainly has more than a passing familiarity with full-blown members and night riding.

[Bernard]

he spent the rest of his life making it up

If that is a direct quote, it may not have been how he intended to word it, but it sounds more real that way. It's also a reflection on the media...sounds like the opening of the eulogy for Dan Rather, Chris Mathews, etc.

[is_is]

The end ALWAYS justifies the means......you didn’t know that.....geeezzzz

/sarcasam

[jersey117]

Is that an untouched picture? If so, he wasn’t exactly a misguided youth when he was a member.

[chris_bdba]

ROFLOL!They want us to believe that he was only in short time but he held a leadership position that takes a long time to achieve? The left’s lies so much.

[Above My Pay Grade]

Hey, at least Slick Willie preaches what he practiced. He would say or do ANYTHING to get elected, so I guess it makes sense that he wouldn’t blame Byrd for doing the same.

[Ann Archy]

Clinton is saying that WVa is filled with KKKer’s?? WOW....they are ALL DEMOCRATS!!

[William Tell]

WayneS said: "And, of course, one must do WHATEVER it takes,..."

It makes me wonder what Byrd's opponents were doing. Did they all join the Klan in their attempt to get elected? Whether they did or not, it tells us plenty about Byrd.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia and in every state in the nation."

Mr. Clinton, the above is a quote from your Mr. Byrd. If he should be forgiven why could you and the rest of your democratic cohorts not overlook Senator Lott praising an old man on his 100th birthday?

[circlecity]

If Robert Byrd had been a Republican and Sarah Palin defended him with that same excuse what would Clinton’s reaction be? Just askin......................

[DoughtyOne]

I wish to thank ex-President Clinton, something I rarely do.

Bill, seeking to explain away Robert Byrd’s KKK activity, said...

“He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia. He was trying to get elected.”

Yes brain trust, it is good to know that he was a Democrat and trying to get elected by Democrats on the basis of his membership in the KKK.

And yet the Blacks vote for Democrats in numbers exceeding 90%, based in part on the idea Republicans are racists.

[Mere Survival]

Is that an untouched picture? If so, he wasn’t exactly a misguided youth when he was a member.
__________________________________________________________

Uh. No.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. [...] He was trying to get elected," former President Bill Clinton said of Sen. Robert Byrd.

Oh. Well. That makes it all right, then.

[Venturer]

He is gone, Good Riddance, I will have a drink to mark his passing and get drunk as a Lord the day Clinton goes.

[Mere Survival]

Byrd wore many hats during his lifetime, including that of Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan. What are the job responsibilities of an Exalted Cyclops? He presides over the Council of the Centaurs and writes quarterly reports to the Grand Giant. In the Klan hierarchy, each local chapter, or Klavern, is led by an Exalted Cyclops. This member is typically elected by his fellow Klansmen and serves a one-year term. According to the original 1867 Prescript of the Ku Klux Klan, the Exalted Cyclops reports to a Grand Giant, or provincial leader; a Grand Dragon, or state director; and the Grand Wizard, or national chair. Below the Cyclops on the org chart were the Grand Magi, the Grand Monk, the Grand Exchequer, the Grand Turk, and, finally, the rank-and-file members known as Ghouls or Knights. (Many of these titles have changed over time, and most of the sub-Cyclops ranks have been eliminated.) The Exalted Cyclops' responsibilities include presiding over Klavern meetings, initiating new members, and appointing Councils of Centaurs—that's Klan-speak for a jury—to try and punish wayward Ghouls.

http://www.slate.com/id/2258661

[AmusedBystander]

I think Clinton is one of those “white ni__ers” that Byrd talked about as late as 2001.

[cranked]

That is about as idiotic as when Clinton spouted that he “did not have sex with that woman”....=.=