On this date in 1917, Robert C. Byrd, whose website says he is the “West Virginian of The 20th Century“, was born. Byrd is a former member of the KKK who left because he was “disinterested” (not, apparently, because the organization is based purely on the evil notion that one race is superior to others). He is also a favorite senator of the Citizens against Government Waste, who have dedicated a page to him that they’ve entitled “Byrd Droppings“.

This “great” man has gone to Washington for many years, working hard to bring home the bacon (or, is that pork?) for the state of West Virginia. I don’t deny that West Virginia is a fairly poor state; I’ve been here my whole life, after all. However, just as I believe that too many handouts are more harmful than useful for individuals, I think that the amount of money siphoned off to us from Senator Byrd is counterproductive. Why should the state find ways to pay for anything, when we can always rely on Byrd to get the money for us?

His spending isn’t all that I take issue with. The evote.com article “One Man’s Pork Is Another’s Bacon (which obviously covers the spending problems as well) says:

Along with his penchant for pork spending, Byrd has also gotten attention in the past overall for civil rights issues and race relations – especially in the spring of 2001 when he made a rare appearance on a weekend show (Fox News Sunday) only to find himself under fire for having casually dropped the term “white niggers” during his appearance.

“There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I’m going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country…” said Byrd in his remarks on Fox News Sunday. Of course, during that same appearance Byrd recalled how his mother had once told him “you can’t go to heaven if you hate anybody.”

The remarks predictably generated a quick firestorm of controversy – or at least they did for a couple of weeks. At the end of the day, Byrd was basically shielded by the capital “D” (for Democrat, of course) next to his name, and possibly to a lesser extent, his age. Republicans were quick to point out that if one of their own had made a similar transgression or even committed some lesser offense, they would have been swamped with angry calls for resignation and harsh criticism from Democratic civil rights activists.

One reason Byrd’s comments didn’t generate much of a long-term backlash was that his background as a member of the KKK was already fairly well known and something he has apologized for in the past. In fact, one detail that critics often cite is that instead of just being a casual member, Byrd was a “Kleagle” who got $10 a head for recruiting new members.

As the article points out, a Republican who made those same comments would’ve been burned at the stake. Look at what happened to Trent Lott over his comments at Senator Strom Thurmond’s 100th Birthday Party, and compare that to what happened to Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who said of Byrd: “There has never been a time in U.S. history that he would not have been right for. He would have been right for the Founding. He would have been right for the Civil War …” How much outcry did we hear over those remarks? None, unless you watch Fox News or listen to conservative radio stations. There’s a double standard here that shocks me far more than it should, considering the bias shown in this last election.

Byrd’s near constant complaints about the Bush administration have stopped carrying any weight (with me, at least), because it’s getting impossible to tell when he’s outraged over something real or whether he’s just outraged for the sake of being outraged. I had long-since stopped paying any attention to what Byrd said when a local radio personality shared that same sentiment a couple of days after the election.

It’s time for West Virginia to get some new blood in Washington. The Senator has done his best to serve us, but the last thing this state needs is an image of draining money from our more financially stable brethren. It’s time we get a Senator who reflects the true moral values of our state, and stop voting for Byrd just because he’s been there a long time and earns us lots of money. Hopefully, two years from now, we will collectively tell Mr. Byrd that we appreciate all he’s done for us, and that we hope he enjoys retirement.

From the aforementioned article in The American Prospect: “‘There’s no conceivable way he could lose an election here,’ says Paul Nyden, a reporter who covers Byrd for The Charleston Gazette.”

Given Byrd’s age, I hope he wouldn’t run again. If he does, I pray Nyden’s wrong.