United States Senator Robert Carlyle Byrd, (D-WVA), passed away last night as the longest serving Senator in United States History [January 3, 1959 through June 28, 2010]. At the time of his death, Senator Byrd had risen to the rank of President pro tempore of the United States, placing him third in line to succeed the President of the United States as a result of a national crisis.

Senator held strong views regarding what he perceived to be Christian morality and was a staunch anti-communist. Senator Byrd was also regarded as a Dixicrat . Senator Byrd joined the KKK in 1942 and quickly rose to the rank of top officer in his unit. He held the titles of Kleagle (State public relations director; recruiter) and Exalted Cyclops (a position similar to being a mayor of a community).

Senator Byrd has claimed that his membership in the Klan was a youthful indiscretion that he now regrets, and that it only lasted about a year. However, he continued to vote in the way a Klan member would by voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and again in 1965 (although he voted, ultimately for the 1968 version after it was pointed out that unless he toned down and appeared more moderate in his views, that he would never be accepted as a main stream Democrat). In 1944, he made his views on serving in the military alongside black patriots:

“In 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo:
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“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),

In 1947, while running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, candidate Byrd wrote the Klan’s Grand Wizard stating:

“The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia and in every state in the nation.”

In 2001, during an interview with political reporter, Tony Snow, Senator Byrd used the term “white nigger”. He subsequently apologized for the comment and attributed it to language from his youth. At the time of the comment, Senator Byrd was 83 years old.

His political views are a mix of conservatism and liberalism. He was a staunch supporter of Christian morality views, anti-communist groups and legislations; his views on abortion were a moderated pro-choice (he ultimately opposed partial-birth abortion and supported parental notification of minors seeking out of state abortions]. Senator Byrd was a fiscal liberal, voting for large spending and against any attempt to reign in the budget. He voted for TARP and economic stimulus bills. His Chamber of Commerce voting was rated at 29% or thoroughly anti-business, pro tax.

The Senator ended his speech in a provocative fashion by repeating paraphrasing a famous quote from the Nuremberg Diary by G. M. Gilbert. In the following passage, Gilbert is interviewing Nazi war criminal Herman Goering:

“We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

. . . But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.

There is one difference. . . . In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.

Oh, that is all well and good, but voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them that they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. “

According to some, Byrd’s criticism has made him the hero of the anti-war movement who spread his speeches via e-mail.

The actual quote, however, was:

Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.” ~ Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

The sentence that Senator Byrd chose to insert: “There is one difference…In a democracy; the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States, only Congress can declare war.”, is, of course, nothing more than a hollow statement that blurs our history and expectation of what should be with the reality that actually exists. For example:

Do you feel Nikki Tsongas actually listened to anyone during her town meetings to the extent that she was actually there with an open mind?

Except to those ideologues that are loath to open their eyes and minds; it is obvious to everyone else that she did not attend them with any interest in actually listening to those whom she “represents”.

The same can be said of Senator John Kerry.

We have been embroiled in Afghanistan for 9 years, albeit for most of that time, at a very low level of fighting compared to the action on the ground in Iraq; and yet, Congress has yet to declare war.

We have been sold a bill of goods regarding Afghanistan, and we have been dragged along to the edge of an economic abyss under the false banner of American exceptionalism. In fact, we are spending precious American resources to nation build Iraq and Afghanistan with the hope that they will act as a puppet buffer in protecting our national interests, while sacrificing their own national interests and continuing to forego the inheritance of their individual natural rights in exchange for continued funding and other forms of aid.

For those who felt that we got into the Middle East to take their oil, the fact is; after 9 years, the United States holds less than 10% of oil contracts from Iraq, and we have shown Afghanistan that there is no need for them to remain impoverished or dependent upon opiates to drive their economy. They have enough natural resources in minerals to make them a very wealth country by moving toward organized industrialization and way from tribal rule. These are not what one would rationally expect of a “taking” nation, but instead, reflect a generous, caring nation. You’ll not see that reported in the press. The truth is far too inconvenient for their agenda and that of their idols, such as former V.P. Albert Gore.

I appreciate Senator Byrd’s long service to the nation, but I would not build monuments to him or his so called legacy. Much greater men have served more ably and have made more profound and positive contributions to a free society than Senator Byrd has accomplished throughout his entire career.

Senator Byrd would have been much better off and more profound by quoting the soliloquy falsely attributed to Julius Caesar on the internet:

“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fever, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar President of the United States.

–Rick