California Conservative

AP reports: “The defense rested Monday in the trial of a former Ku Klux Klanman in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers after a former mayor testified that the white-supremacist group was a “peaceful organization.”

Sounds like the same impression Sen. Robert Byrd once had. That’s because, um, he doesn’t anymore. No way.

In related news: “Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s new memoir reveals both his encyclopedic knowledge of political history and the unlikely inspiration that helped launch his own political career: A Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.”

It was a Klan leader who motivated the young Byrd during his short-lived tenure in the racist organization — something he writes was “an extraordinarily foolish mistake” that has haunted him for 40 years.”

Well, all must be forgiven. We noticed that Byrd has got a snappy little ad running on the ultra-liberal DailyKos. It appears that Klan membership doesn’t carry the stigma it used to.

Byrd’s punchy advert declares: “Click here to Support An American Hero” The flash animation continues with: “Protecting Your Freedom - Defending the Constitution - Preserving Checks & Balances” Just can’t resist. You have to salute it — the chutzpah of it all. (NRO’s Jonah Goldberg was equally impressed)

But, hey, the old man has track record. A proven talent.

“He recruited 150 members, and when Grand Dragon Joel L. Baskin came to a meeting in Crab Orchard, Byrd was unanimously elected Exalted Cyclops.

“You have a talent for leadership, Bob,” Baskin told him. “The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation.”

Nice to see that Kos agrees.

RELATED:
Bobby Byrd’s Klan of “Upstanding People”

This entry was posted on Monday, June 20th, 2005 at 9:51 pm and is filed under Activism, DNC, Elections, Liberals, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.