Robert C. Byrd to become longest-serving senator in U.S. history Monday

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

as a liberal West Virginian, I have a love/frustration attitude towards him, but congrats to the old guy, regardless. and time has proven him right on the war.
---
WASHINGTON - Former Sen. George Smathers used to tell the story about how Robert C. Byrd had turned down a half-dozen invitations to join other senators in Florida for deep sea fishing or golf or gin rummy or tennis.

"I have never in my life played a game of cards. I have never had a golf club in my hand. I have never in life hit a tennis ball," Byrd told the Florida Democrat, according to an interview Smathers gave to a Senate historian.

"I don't do any of those things. I have only had to work all my life."

After almost 48 years in the Senate, Byrd is still working. On Monday, the West Virginia Democrat passes the late GOP Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as the longest serving senator in history.

And Byrd is not finished.

Slowed by age and grief-stricken over the recent death of Erma, his wife of almost 69 years, Byrd still is running for an unprecedented ninth term. At 88, he uses two canes as he slowly makes his way around the Capitol. Yet he can thunder orations from the Senate floor.

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060610/ap_on_go_co/byrd_senate_record_1




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060610/ap_on_go_co/byrd_senate_record_1

[truthisfreedom]

1. go Byrd! the truth-teller!

i have huge admiration for this man.

[Genki]

2. n/t

[eowyn_of_rohan]

3. Erma Ora James Byrd 1917-2006

"Erma Byrd, Senator Byrd's wife of nearly 69 years, passed away on March 25, 2006, after battling a long illness." http://byrd.senate.gov/erma_byrd.html

[MADem]

4. Well, he is slowed, and he is grief-stricken

His staff wondered how he'd manage when she died recently. http://byrd.senate.gov/erma_byrd.html

[Genki]

7. Byrd is in good shape

I have not read of or heard of any concern for Senator Byrd's state of mind or ability to function by his staff since his wife's death. On the contrary, he appears quite strong and resolute, fully capable of mounting an effective campaign against his opponent.

[MADem]

10. I wasn't suggesting that he'd lost his marbles

All I was saying, in response to a comment that was later deleted, is that he was very hard-hit by the death of his wife, which is a NATURAL, normal, response, given their many decades together. His staff felt his pain.

Right now, the thing that does keep him going is his political life. He's been a voice of sanity in a sometimes insane Senate of late, and I wish him many more years there.

[UrbScotty]

5. Way to go, Senator!

:thumbsup:

[AX10]

6. kick

[bsiebs]

8. Good for him....however....

He gained my admiration for his repudiation of his prior membership in the KKK and his work to defend the constant attempts to erode the Constitution in the Bush era... but he just voted this week to banish gays to second class status in this country with his vote to approve the amendment to the constitution to ban gay marriage. A bigot is a bigot, and I had hoped that he had finally risen above that nasty cesspool of hate, alas, he has not. He is better than 90% of the republicans, but he is still willing to cast some of his fellow americans/human beings as second-class. I guess he hasn't quite gotten it.

[nealmhughes]

9. Actually Bob Byrd said he would vote against the amendment itself.

He hates changes in the Constitution and would never vote for an amendment that was likely to not be based on Madisonian logic. He does love debate. He voted to allow it to go forward to consideration, not FOR the amendment. There is a big difference. The amendment itself was not voted on, instead it was not advanced for a yea or nay on the amendment proposal itself.

[bsiebs]

11. It is wrong either way

I don't give a hoot if he likes to debate...it was a bigoted vote.

[ottomattic]

23. It is wrong either way

Posted by bsiebs
"I don't give a hoot if he likes to debate...it was a bigoted vote."


Agreed, this is a politician who still openly uses the word nigger, Is there anyone here who really thinks the faggot is not part of Byrd's vocabulary?
 

[sui generis]

18. it's just a pig wearing lipstick when you put it like that

We're talking about disenfranchising gays and their families and the people who care about us of our rights as equal citizens, not procedural hoo haw.

Tell our kids that it's okay; it was just a procedural thing. That dog don't hunt.

[IronLionZion]

13. Byrd is against the fucking gay marriage amendment.

Never let facts get in the way of your bigotry

It's OK, you're not the first and you won't be the last.

:P

[bsiebs]

14. Byrd voted to allow this bigoted bill to move forward. Be honest.

Check your facts before you sound off. He voted to bring the amendment to the floor. You are not being honest.

_______________

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate


Vote Summary

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to the Consideration of S. J. Res. 1 ) Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to the Consideration of S. J. Res. 1; Marriage Protection Amendment
Vote Number: 163 Vote Date: June 7, 2006, 10:02 AM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected
Vote Counts: YEAs 49
NAYs 48
Not Voting 3
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State


Alphabetical by Senator Name Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Nay
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Chafee (R-RI), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Conrad (D-ND), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Not Voting
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Not Voting
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Nay
Lincoln (D-AR), Nay
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Not Voting
Salazar (D-CO), Nay
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

[IronLionZion]

16. Yeah, so would I

because then it would be up for vote and fail and we'll be done with it. It takes a hell of a lot to pass a constitutional amendment. Trust me, the amendment is not going to pass...ever...

But now, we have to keep hearing about this shit every election year and it will never end even if the Dems take over. It's just a red herring that they use when they are desperate to turn out the wingnuts. It's sad to see our own DUers fall for it too.

[IA_Seth]

20. Allowing a bill to move to a vote doesn't equal support!

Until the debate is fully hashed by both houses of Congress (which will not pass either house), this will just keep coming up and be used as a wedge issue to beat the Democrats with.

We have to allow the debate to expose this for what it is, bigotry, and then (and only then) will it have a chance of dying.

Allowing a proposed amendment to be debated sure in the hell doesn't equal support.

[IronLionZion]

21. yup and after that it goes to the state legislatures

it's ridiculous that any DUers actually take this seriously. The Republicans are just manipulating raw emotions like they always do in every election. This is fucked up.

Were I in the Senate, I'd bend arms to get it to a floor vote just so that we can end it once and for all.

[Mrspeeker]

12. Great, I'm not sure if this is a good thing though

I feel that terms should be limited, and not because someone is doing or isn't doing a good job but merely because a democracy or a Democratic Republic should have more representation than one person holding a single office for over 40 years, this makes that office the point of view of that one particular individual for that length of time and does not show any representation for his or her other side!

Smaller terms
Smaller government
Better World

[Posteritatis]

29. What if the people *want* him there, though?

Which they obviously do in this case. Voters should get who they want in office, with as few exceptions as possible. If they want to reelect the same guy several times in a row, I see no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to.

[JudyM]

15. Anything to erase Strom Thurmond's name off the books is great. n/t

[TheLeftyMom]

17. That's exactly where I went when I read this

Being a dem from the midwest, I don't know much about Byrd. But, anything that takes some glory from Strom is all right with me.

[noel adamson]

22. Unlike Strom, Byrd renounced much of his past bigotry to become...

...relativly liberal and was one of the few voices of reason concerning the invasion of Iraq, the (Un)Patriot Act etc. Maybe it would take another 88 years for him to overcome his apparent homophobia.

[saigon68]

19. if the shoe fits

fossil brain

[RCinBrooklyn]

24. He's the Strom Thurmond of the Democratic Party.

I'm not a big fan of Sen. Byrd. I think he is past his prime and his effective date has long since expired. I do hope W. Virginia can find a suitable progressive to replace him next election.

[sofa king]

26. Well, maybe.

Maybe if Strom had renounced his virulent racism, or at least publicly acknowledged his daughter of color. Maybe if Strom had taken the time in his 48 years to teach himself the law and the rules of the Senate until he became the foremost expert on the subject, perhaps ever. Maybe if Strom had struggled to the Senate floor every week and often every day, for years, to speak out against this illegal, immoral and destructive war for profit. Maybe if Strom had taken to heart the sacred duty of all Senators to be mindful of the minority voice in any political question, instead of acting in a divisive and partisan manner from the day he stepped into the Capitol. Maybe if Strom had the courage to change with the times instead of constantly trying to guide America back to its racist, elitist roots. Maybe if Strom had done just one of those things, he would somehow be comparable to Senator Byrd.

But he did not.

[Lasher]

27. He might be past his prime

But just last year he sent Catkiller Frist running out of the Senate chamber with his tail between his legs.

[sofa king]

25. Congratulations, Senator Byrd!

Here's to the next 48 years!

[hughee99]

28. I wonder if Alito will send him a card? n/t