Obama and the death of Sen. Robert Byrd

Here's one for you:

According to the White House's blog, President Obama made these remarks concerning former grand dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, Sen. Robert Byrd, who passed away early yesterday:

I was saddened to hear this morning that the people of West Virginia have lost a true champion, the United States Senate has lost a venerable institution, and America has lost a voice of principle and reason with the passing of Robert C. Byrd.

Senator Byrd’s story was uniquely American. He was born into wrenching poverty, but educated himself to become an authoritative scholar, respected leader, and unparalleled champion of our Constitution. He scaled the summit of power, but his mind never strayed from the people of his beloved West Virginia. He had the courage to stand firm in his principles, but also the courage to change over time.

He was as much a part of the Senate as the marble busts that line its chamber and its corridors. His profound passion for that body and its role and responsibilities was as evident behind closed doors as it was in the stemwinders he peppered with history. He held the deepest respect of members of both parties, and he was generous with his time and advice, something I appreciated greatly as a young senator.

We take solace in the fact that he is reunited with his wife of nearly 69 years, Erma; and our thoughts and prayers are with their daughters, their grandchildren and great grandchildren, and all the people of West Virginia who loved Robert C. Byrd.


As some of you may recall, former Sen. Trent Lott said something nice about then 100-year-old Senator Strom Thurmond, and was forced to resign from his Senate leadership position.

Granted, Thurmond WAS an avowed segregationist. He was also a fiscal conservative, and a "Dixiecrat" turned Republican. Not someone I would agree with very often, but some who had served the US Senate for many years, was the oldest person to have served in the Senate, and had many accomplishments since his days as a presidential candidate in the 1960s.

Now our president lauds a former KKK grand dragon, someone who likewise fought civil rights legislation, and he calls the guy "a voice of principle and reason" and "a venerable institution"?!?! He also said he had "the courage to stand firm in his principles, but also the courage to change over time."

By rights, President Obama should follow Trent Lott's example and resign now since he made supportive statements of a ?"former"? racist, thus making him racist and therefore unfit. Someone should call the ACLU. Right?

I guess Mr. Byrd was not a "typical white person."