Cracker

Originally Posted by Cracker

Robert Byrd the Gentleman from West Virginia


The US Senate lost a rare, almost extinct Byrd today due to a recent onset of illness that slowly took the famous, if not storied Senator from his beloved West Virginians. Early in his political career he became a card carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan which he renounced later on in his political career usually around reelection time. He has made several memorable quotes from those years:

I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side... 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, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. ”

— Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944,

I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened. ”

— Robert C. Byrd,

However, he joined with Southern and border state Democrats and helped filibuster and vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but when politically expedient and up for reelection in 1969 found the courage to step up to the plate and vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Spend Baby Spend

Labeled the "King of Pork" by many, which isn't very far fetched if you look into West Virginia and what has been named for him and his wife. An award winning spender and chairman of the appropriations committee won the coveted "Porker of the Month Award " four times in 2001,2002,2003 and 2006 plus the much sought "Porker of the Year" title in 2002.

A short list of Senator Byrd's many namesakes:

Robert C Byrd Locks and Dam
Robert C Byrd Green Bank Telescope
Robert C.Byrd Aerospace Tech. Center
Robert C. Byrd Drive, from Beckley to Sophia (Byrd's hometown)
Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center at Wheeling Jesuit University
Robert C. Byrd Highway
Robert C. Byrd Federal Correctional Institution
Robert C. Byrd High School
Robert C. Byrd Freeway
Robert C. Byrd Center for Hospitality and Tourism
Robert C. Byrd Science Center
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia
Robert C. Byrd Cancer Research Center
Robert C. Byrd Technology Center at Alderson-Broaddus College
Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center, near Princeton
Robert C. Byrd Bridge between Huntington and Chesapeake, Ohio
Robert C. Byrd addition to the lodge at Oglebay Park, Wheeling
Robert C. Byrd Community Center, Pine Grove
Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarships
Robert C. Byrd Expressway, U.S. 52 near Weirton
Robert C. Byrd Institute in Charleston
Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing
Robert C. Byrd Visitor Center at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park
Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse
Robert C. Byrd Academic and Technology Center
Robert C. Byrd United Technical Center
Robert C. Byrd Federal Building (there are two)
Robert C. Byrd Hilltop Office Complex
Robert C. Byrd Library and Robert C. Byrd Learning Resource Center
Robert C. Byrd Rural Health Center
Robert C. Byrd Clinical Addition to the veteran's hospital in Huntington
Robert C. Byrd Industrial Park, Hardy County
Robert C. Byrd Scholastic Recognition Award
Robert C. Byrd Community Center in the naval station, Sugar Grove
Robert C. Byrd Clinic at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center at Marshall University

There is even a statue of the Senator in the State Capitol and it is said his open hands point towards your pockets.



Robert Byrd, Dead at Ninety Two. West Virginia will never be the same.