Like a Byrd on a Wire
As of right now, Sen. Robert C. Byrd is the longest serving senator in US history. He has served 17,327 days as a Senator. He was sworn in January of 1959 under president Eisenhower. Interestingly, he took night class and congressional sessions, he earned a law degree at night and it was presented to him in June of 1963 by President Kennedy. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about the Senate, the Constitution and the Bible. He was also, in his youth, an Exalted Cyclops of his local Klanton (or Klavern) of the Ku Klux Klan. He is a complicated man, but nonetheless, one of the most interesting senators serving today. And now, he's surpassed Strom Thurmond as the longest serving Senator.
Byrd is lifelong Democrat from the State of West Virginia and is a proud son of that state. He is not the son of privilege, but, as he puts it "a hillbilly". He is unabashed in his goals of getting prok for his constituents, since "I am here to represent the people of West Virginia, and they want me to serve them. My state has been a landlocked state, a poverty-ridden state, although it's rich in natural resources." but has consistently ralled against taxpayer funded junkets to play cards in the Bahamas, or golf in Scotland or what have you. When he was in the Majority leadership, he routinely scheduled votes on Fridays, late into the night and, gasp, press conferences on Saturdays. He was one of the first people of advocate C-Span having cameras on the floor of the Senate to prevent being seen as a "secret house" in the government. He is part of the Gang of 14 who fought to keep the filibuster as part of the Senate arsenal and get up or down votes on justices. He has never feared a great debate, even when he later thought he was wrong.
Obviously, his former membership in the Klan colors, as it were, all of his votes. Colored them so much the NAACP gave him a %100 on their report card of votes concerning racaial equality and advancement. Read that again. The NAACP said a former KLANSMAN is voting the way they want. Senator Byrd has also said that joining the Klan was his biggest mistake. He said votes early on were influenced by his upbringing in the South. He filibustered for 14 hours against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the same one that Strom Thurmond filibustered against for a record holding 24 hours), which he regrets. As if to make up for it, he did vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which not only covered the 1964 bill, but also made it illegal to discriminate in housing based on race. He also helped Kennedy campaign in West Virginia, which is suprising if one remembers the KKK burned crosses to welcome the privleged, Catholic son of a lace-curtain, nouveau-riche, lace-curtain, Irish crook when he campainged farther South.
His later votes have been more what we expect from a Democrat. He voted against the Iraq War and against Bush getting the authority to go to war; he saw it as an encroachment on Senatorial power. However, when we sent troops, he voted for every increase in funding since the troops needed it. He says he's never been more proud than to have voted against Iraq, but he says he was right in the times for supporting Vietnam. On that, he also says "we were wrong" when it came to fighting the waar, but he supported the President. He voted against the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, again as an encroachment on the power of the Senate.
He's also been known as one of the smartest men in the Senate, especially when it comes to history and speeches of the Senate. Both the United States and Roman Senates. He has long fought for the right of the Senate to speak and debate, including times when it was not in his best interest to. He has spoken on how the Senate needs to regain the respect of the people of the United States, and he's been saying that since MamaRanter changed my diapers. He quotes Cicero, poetry, Hans Christian Anderson and many literary and historical references when making speeches. He tries to use the finest example of eloquence he can command. And he speaks movingly even at the age of 88. He called the principal of pre-emptive invasaion unconstitutional and said about Bush's appearance on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit: "I do question the motives of a deskbound president who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech." He has strongly chided his colleagues for not questioning enough. When he was in the majority leadership roles, he made every senator work hard and frustrated opponents by knowing the rules of the Senate better than they did. He also hands out a copy of the Constitution to each freshman Senator calling it "the finest document of its kind".
He is, for better and worse, a devoted patriot to his view of patriotism. He believes strongly in the cause and inherent decentness of the Senate. He attempts to uphold what he sees as the nobility of the Senate and the glory of the Constitution. He unflinchly calls for pork since it is his job. He consistently speaks in a way that would go over the head of some people, but still manages to keep his common man roots. He is running for an 8th term right now and is all but unopposed. While he votes mostly with the Democrats, he does vote with the Republicans on some issues. He truly thinks about what is right and votes for that, instead of listening to current trends on what the people "should" think. He cares what he thinks, so long as his heart serves the people.
And we need about 99 more like him.
So it is written, so do I see it.
Byrd is lifelong Democrat from the State of West Virginia and is a proud son of that state. He is not the son of privilege, but, as he puts it "a hillbilly". He is unabashed in his goals of getting prok for his constituents, since "I am here to represent the people of West Virginia, and they want me to serve them. My state has been a landlocked state, a poverty-ridden state, although it's rich in natural resources." but has consistently ralled against taxpayer funded junkets to play cards in the Bahamas, or golf in Scotland or what have you. When he was in the Majority leadership, he routinely scheduled votes on Fridays, late into the night and, gasp, press conferences on Saturdays. He was one of the first people of advocate C-Span having cameras on the floor of the Senate to prevent being seen as a "secret house" in the government. He is part of the Gang of 14 who fought to keep the filibuster as part of the Senate arsenal and get up or down votes on justices. He has never feared a great debate, even when he later thought he was wrong.
Obviously, his former membership in the Klan colors, as it were, all of his votes. Colored them so much the NAACP gave him a %100 on their report card of votes concerning racaial equality and advancement. Read that again. The NAACP said a former KLANSMAN is voting the way they want. Senator Byrd has also said that joining the Klan was his biggest mistake. He said votes early on were influenced by his upbringing in the South. He filibustered for 14 hours against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the same one that Strom Thurmond filibustered against for a record holding 24 hours), which he regrets. As if to make up for it, he did vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which not only covered the 1964 bill, but also made it illegal to discriminate in housing based on race. He also helped Kennedy campaign in West Virginia, which is suprising if one remembers the KKK burned crosses to welcome the privleged, Catholic son of a lace-curtain, nouveau-riche, lace-curtain, Irish crook when he campainged farther South.
His later votes have been more what we expect from a Democrat. He voted against the Iraq War and against Bush getting the authority to go to war; he saw it as an encroachment on Senatorial power. However, when we sent troops, he voted for every increase in funding since the troops needed it. He says he's never been more proud than to have voted against Iraq, but he says he was right in the times for supporting Vietnam. On that, he also says "we were wrong" when it came to fighting the waar, but he supported the President. He voted against the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, again as an encroachment on the power of the Senate.
He's also been known as one of the smartest men in the Senate, especially when it comes to history and speeches of the Senate. Both the United States and Roman Senates. He has long fought for the right of the Senate to speak and debate, including times when it was not in his best interest to. He has spoken on how the Senate needs to regain the respect of the people of the United States, and he's been saying that since MamaRanter changed my diapers. He quotes Cicero, poetry, Hans Christian Anderson and many literary and historical references when making speeches. He tries to use the finest example of eloquence he can command. And he speaks movingly even at the age of 88. He called the principal of pre-emptive invasaion unconstitutional and said about Bush's appearance on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit: "I do question the motives of a deskbound president who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech." He has strongly chided his colleagues for not questioning enough. When he was in the majority leadership roles, he made every senator work hard and frustrated opponents by knowing the rules of the Senate better than they did. He also hands out a copy of the Constitution to each freshman Senator calling it "the finest document of its kind".
He is, for better and worse, a devoted patriot to his view of patriotism. He believes strongly in the cause and inherent decentness of the Senate. He attempts to uphold what he sees as the nobility of the Senate and the glory of the Constitution. He unflinchly calls for pork since it is his job. He consistently speaks in a way that would go over the head of some people, but still manages to keep his common man roots. He is running for an 8th term right now and is all but unopposed. While he votes mostly with the Democrats, he does vote with the Republicans on some issues. He truly thinks about what is right and votes for that, instead of listening to current trends on what the people "should" think. He cares what he thinks, so long as his heart serves the people.
And we need about 99 more like him.
So it is written, so do I see it.