Senator Robert Byrd Dies at 92
 

And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

Robert Byrd, Respected Voice of the Senate, Dies at 92
NYT, 28 June 2010

Robert C. Byrd, who used his record tenure as a United States senator to fight for the primacy of the legislative branch of government and to build a modern West Virginia with vast amounts of federal money, died at about 3 a.m. Monday, his office said. He was 92.

Mr. Byrd served 51 years in the Senate, longer than anyone in American history, and with his six years in the House, he was the longest-serving member of Congress. He held a number of Senate offices, including majority and minority leader and president pro tem.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us...er=rss&emc=rss

RIP

I can't help but notice though...51 years!? There needs to be term limits for congressmen, I don't believe that career politicians are something the founders had in mind.

Agreed, tell me what a man who hasn't had a real job in 51 years knows about anything in the world today? I saw he knew lots about how the Senate works....Wow... I know I'm impressed :rolleyes: But as others have said we get the government we deserve as his constituents kept him in office for 50 years.

I'm not sure what the rest of the Nation did to deserve him but his constituents certainly got their money's worth - and the rest of us paid for it.

Boy ain't that the truth.
And he was only in the Klan for a little while.:rolleyes:

I witnessed that first hand after spending last week in WV. It seemed every other highway and high school was named after him.

As President Pro Tempore of the US Senate, he was third in line of Presidential Succession during the periods January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995, January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001, June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003, and January 3, 2007 – June 28, 2010.

Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii now holds the position.

Nancy Pelosi remains second in line. :eek:

Richard :munchin

This would be news to George Clinton, Gouverneur Morris, John Taylor of Caroline, Thomas Jefferson, ....

100% correct - he brought home the bacon to WV where I live. For me, he was an embarrassment. He made sure that the state was on federal welfare. Everything that came in with federal dollars had his name on it. He nearly single handedly kept the state from developing anything but coal mining. Even with huge amounts of out of state dollars coming in, the schools were crappy. But the highways are in great shape.

Our little enclave in the eastern panhandle, is pretty middle class. We have great schools and lower taxes than our fellow countrymen 10 exits to the north or 16 exits to the south. We have a county government in Berkley county is conservative. They don't throw away money on nice to have stuff, we make people look for jobs when they're on welfare, and when we need to repair the schools, we don't tear it down and build another.

As for your quote above, Bob? I say "Once a terrorist, always a terrorist." My grandmother grew up in Kentucky, but when my GGF opened the door one night after it was knocked and found a calling card with nothing but a flaming sword on it, they left and never looked back. It was the warning that the Klan didn't want them there and it was "fair warning" back in those days. I look at the Klan the same way I look at the Taliban. The differences in their tactics and goals aren't worth mentioning.

He is what politicians are really about these days. Doesn't matter what brand, they're all pretty much alike, same goals and ambitions. Byrd just didn't try to hide it.

Sorry he's dead. He's probably having a pretty difficult interview right now.

Condolences to his family.

Otherwise, I believe in not speaking ill of the dead.

Perhaps I should apologize for my disparaging comments about Mussolini, too. I don't speak well of unrepentant racists. He, like Strom Thurmond, need to be remembered for who they were. Otherwise history will continue to recycle.

I will respect the dead when the lives they led deserve it. He deserves little respect IMO. Once a terrorist, always a terrorist.

Very true and a great argument for term limits

Agreed!!

After reading the following statement on his wikipedia page, I changed my mind. May he burn in hell. :mad: