Right Side of the Rainbow

Tomorrow, West Virginia University Press will publish the memoir of Sen. Robert Bryd (D-WV). From the Washington Post, under the headline "A senator's shame:"axel f mp3 down load

The 770-page book is the latest in a long series of attempts by the 87-year-old Democratic patriarch to try to explain an event early in his life that threatens to define him nearly as much as his achievements in the Senate. In it, Byrd says he viewed the Klan as a useful platform from which to launch his political career. He described it essentially as a fraternal group of elites -- doctors, lawyers, clergy, judges and other "upstanding people" who at no time engaged in or preached violence against blacks, Jews or Catholics, who historically were targets of the Klan.

His latest account is consistent with others he has offered over the years that tend to minimize his direct involvement with the Klan and explain it as a youthful indiscretion. "My only explanation for the entire episode is that I was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision -- a jejune and immature outlook -- seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions," Byrd wrote.axel f mp3 down load

While Byrd provides the most detailed description of his early involvement with the Klan, conceding that he reflected "the fears and prejudices I had heard throughout my boyhood," the account is not complete. He does not acknowledge the full length of time he spent as a Klan organizer and advocate. Nor does he make any mention of a particularly incendiary letter he wrote in 1945 complaining about efforts to integrate the military ...axel f mp3 down load

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Byrd said in the Dec. 11, 1945, letter -- which would not become public for 42 more years with the publication of a book on blacks in the military during World War II by author Graham Smith -- that he would never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side. Byrd added that, "Rather I should die a thousand times, and see old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels." [emphasis added]

The senator claims he quit the Klan in early 1943. But if so, two years later he still hadn't quit it views, as the letter above demonstrates. Perhaps it's only coincidence that Mr. Bryd voted against the confirmations of Clarence Thomas and Janice Rogers Brown, both black.axel f mp3 down load

Even before today's Post article, a poll of West Virginia voters had Mr. Bryd leading Republican U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito by only 3 points in a hypothetical match. And as Gerry at Daily Thoughts notes, the Post has now "complicated" the senator's re-election bid.axel f mp3 down load

In 2004, Mr. Bush won West Virginia by 13 points.axel f mp3 down load

If Ms. Capito decides to run against Mr. Byrd, who turns 88 next year, I say mark this seat as a probable GOP pick up.axel f mp3 down load