Senator Byrd Passes Away at 92

West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, the self-educated son of a coal miner who became the longest-serving member of Congress, died early Monday at age 92, the senator's office said.

Byrd, a nine-term Democrat, was known as a master of the chamber's often-arcane rules and as the self-proclaimed "champion of the Constitution," a jealous guardian of congressional power. He was a genius parliamentarian.

His speeches were laced with references to poetry and the Greek and Roman classics, often punctuated by the brandishing of his pocket copy of the national charter.

He was also known as the "King of Pork," using top positions on the Senate Appropriations Committee to steer federal spending to his home state -- one of the nation's poorest.

Byrd relished the title.

"Pork, to the critic, is service to the people who enjoy some of the good things in life, and I've been happy to bring to West Virginia the projects to which they refer. I have no apology for it," he said.

"When I am dead and am opened they will find West Virginia written on my heart."

He was an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, calling his 2002 vote against a "blind and improvident" authorization of military action the proudest moment of his career.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin -- a Democrat -- has the power to appoint a replacement for Byrd, whose current term is set to expire in 2013.

When Byrd entered Congress in January 1953, a postage stamp cost 3 cents and American kids were clamoring for a new toy called Mr. Potato Head. Harry Truman was president, Winston Churchill was Britain's prime minister, and Josef Stalin was still the Soviet Union's leader.

In November 2009, two days before his 92nd birthday, Byrd passed Arizona Democrat Carl Hayden's record to become the longest-serving member of Congress.

His health problems mounted in his later years, putting him in the hospital four times between February 2008 and September 2009.

Under pressure from fellow Democrats, he announced he would step down as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee after the 2008 elections.

"I have been privileged to be a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee for 50 years and to have chaired the committee for 10 years, during a time of enormous change in our great country, both culturally and politically," he wrote in a statement announcing his intention.

"A new day has dawned in Washington, and that is a good thing. For my part, I believe that it is time for a new day at the top of the Senate Appropriations Committee."

Byrd's records

-Longest-serving member of Congress, with 20,996 days

-Only person elected to nine full terms in the Senate

-Presided over the shortest session of the Senate (6/10ths of a second; February 27, 1989)

-Presided over Senate for longest continuous period (21 hours, 8 minutes; March 7-8, 1960)

-Cast 18,689 roll-call votes; more than any other U.S. senator

-Held the most leadership positions in Senate

Robert Carlyle Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr. on November 20, 1917, in the North Carolina town of North Wilkesboro. His mother died when he was a year old, and he was adopted and renamed by his aunt and uncle, Titus and Vlurma Byrd.

He started his political career by running for the state House of Delegates in 1946, while working as a butcher and welder. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives six years later, was elected to his first Senate term in 1958, and won his ninth in 2006, three weeks shy of his 89th birthday.

"If it's the Lord's will, the people will send me there. Why? This Constitution needs a champion," he said before the 2006 vote.

As the senior senator of the majority party, Byrd served as the Senate's president pro tempore -- third in line of presidential succession, behind the vice president and speaker of the House.

While he set two endurance records in Congress, he was only proud of one in the end. The other was for his 1964 filibuster against the Civil Rights Act, when he spoke for 14 hours and 13 minutes in an effort to derail the law.

He opposed civil rights when he first ran for office, a stance he came to regret later in life. He blamed "that Southern atmosphere in which I grew up, with all of its prejudices and its feelings," for his opposition to equal rights, which included joining the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s.

He called the move "the greatest mistake of my life," an "albatross" that would always shadow his career.

"It's a lesson to the young people of today, that once a major mistake has been made in one's life," he said, "it will always be there, and it will be in my obituary."

Byrd was married to his childhood sweetheart, the former Erma James, for nearly 69 years before her death in 2006. They had two daughters.

"I have met queens and the wives of shahs and great women from all over the world, (but) to me now, this was the greatest woman I ever met in this world," he said.

He did not complete a college degree until 1963, when he earned a law degree from American University in Washington after taking night classes -- the only time a member of Congress has earned a law degree while holding office. He also received a political science degree from West Virginia's Marshall University in 1994, at age 76.

He rose through the Senate's Democratic ranks in the 1960s, and became the chamber's majority leader in 1977. He kept the party leadership when Republicans won back the Senate in 1980, serving as minority leader for six years, then spent two more years as majority leader after the 1986 elections.

In 1989, he became chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee -- one of the most influential posts in Congress, with extensive control over the federal government's purse strings.

Years later, Byrd explained to CNN the power of that unique position.

"In the forest there is a water hole," he said. "All the animals have to come to that water hole sooner or later. The Appropriations Committee is a water hole."

He spent the rest of his career as the panel's chairman or ranking Democrat, steering an estimated $3 billion in federal projects to West Virginia since 1991, according to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

Byrd said he was looking out for the interests of his Appalachian constituents, nearly 20 percent of whom live below the federal poverty line.

"My memory is as good as it ever was, and it's stock full of recollections about the poor people of West Virginia, how they were laughed at," he told CNN in 2006.

But in the same interview, Byrd said it was his October 2002 vote against the resolution that gave President George Bush the authority to launch the invasion of Iraq "of which I am most proud."

He was one of 23 senators to oppose the authorization, warning that Congress was abdicating its constitutional power to declare war by giving the president what amounted to a blank check.

"We are rushing into war without fully discussing why, without thoroughly considering the consequences, or without making any attempt to explore what steps we might take to avert conflict," he said.

Four months later, with an American-led army poised to move across the frontier and U.N. weapons inspectors reporting no sign of Iraq's suspected weapons programs, Byrd returned to the Senate floor to condemn a "hauntingly silent" chamber.

Four years after casting that vote, he called the invasion "the blunder of the age."

Though he promised to support U.S. troops "to the last breath, the last dollar," he told CNN that he and other opponents of the war had been right.

"History will prove it was wrong to invade another country without provocation. That is wrong. That was wrong then, and it would be wrong 50 years from today," he said.

- Reposted from CNN

Senator Byrd Hospitalized

Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia (which sounds odd, come to think of it), has been hospitalized in serious condition.

The 92-year-old was admitted to a Washington area hospital last week. His office lists him as "seriously ill". Initially it was believed he was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Last year, Senator Byrd was hospitalized for 6 weeks due to a staph infection.

Last November, he became the longest-serving member of Congress at more than 57 years, surpassing the old record set by Arizona Democrat Carl T. Hayden. Byrd also is the only person elected to nine full terms in the Senate. Senator Byrd served 3 terms in the House of Representatives before becoming a Senator. He has never lost an election.

Always a controversial figure in politics, he has in the past been a member of the Ku Klux Klan and a pro-segregationist. Despite this, he remains a Democrat and has changed his position on a number of inflammatory topics.

He is a widower with two daughters, two sons-in-law, five living grandchildren (another deceased) and six great-grandchildren.

He was a good friend of the late Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy.

Cobra Commander (D-Undisclosed)

A reaction to Fox News and its onscreen "typo" misidentifying McCain's political party. On the Huffintgon Post, there was this comment from someone called Randomizer.

Yeah, man. Drew Pederson is identified as Democrat as is Bin Laden, Kim Il Jong, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. All of them with the (D) underneath their names. Here's some others:
Satan (D-Hell) Hitler (D-Germany) Stalin (D-USSR) Skeletor (D-Eternia) Megatron (D-Chaar)
Pretty much all Democrats.

Love it!

McCain wins big; Dems split vote

So, Super Tuesday has happened.

Mike Huckabee was definitely the surprising force of the night. He started out winning West Virginia which had a convention. This began Mitt Romney's cry that there was some backroom deal between McCain and Huckabee. Here's why: the WV convention is basically run as two rounds of voting. After the first round, when the McCain supporters realized there was no way they could win, moved their support to Huckabee.

I will address this on two fronts. First, there has been some suspicion that McCain has bee n making deals ala Survivor to gain the nomination of the Republican Party. It has been suggested that he asked Thompson, who stood no legitimate chance of winning, to stay in through South Carolina to run interference for McCain. The same thing is believed to have occurred with Rudy Guiliani in Florida. Guiliani and McCain are known to be friends as Thompson is as well. McCain tends to appeal the center and has political friends who are centrists. I'll even throw Colin Powell in there though I've never read that they were friends but I can definitely see the two of them getting along. Hell, Joe Lieberman is running around with McCain!!! Maybe that bothers the conservatives: a liberal Connecticut Orthodox Jew is supporting a Republican.

Second, that's politics!!!! Anyone knows that those things happen. Its the nature of the game. Even though Romney outspent both his opponents by millions, it was all for not. And he cried foul after that West Virginia convention which was the first contest called of the day. What a whiny, little pussy!

Though I will grant this: McCain is winning for some unexplainable reason. He didn't win the conservative vote. The southern Cons went for Huckabee and the Northern cons went for Romney. He won amongst moderate Republicans who are anti-war (which he is not) and those in favor of aboritionrights (which I won't try to qualify him on. He is pro-life but has also been on record saying the alternative would be worse). I like him because he is pragmatic. I like someone who is more concerned with being practical and making sense than satisfying idealogues who want someone to do their bidding. McCain has been rebellious since about the age of 8 and is unapologetically so. I want a president who thinks for himself. The alternative is a government run by committee.

Radio blowhards are just attacking him. Conservative Talk Radio is just plain babble. These village idiots with their radio soapboxes are ranting about how they cannot stand the other side. Rush Limbaugh vilifies McCain for reaching across the aisle to work with the other party. All Limbaugh is doing is proofing the rest of the country right: Conservatives are smug, hateful and cold people who would rather hate their fellow American than learn to live with them.

And I hate (not really, but it sure sounds good) to break it to Conservative Republicans but he is the last hope for your broken down, mean little party. This is the party that gave us Abraham Lincoln who felt that after the Civil War, the north should reach out to help the South and not grind the Confederate states under the northern boot. Somehow, I feel that empathy is missing.

Americans are tired of the "My way or the highway" approach to politics. It is fracturing this country and is leading us down the path of destruction. People are fed up with neo-conservatism. True conservatism, which is what McCain is closer to, is preferable compared to the shit that Bush, Limbaugh and all their ilk keep shoveling down our throats. I think they're poor sports and bad losers just like Romney.

On the Democratic side there isn't really much to talk about. Hillary lost her voice in the days leading up to the primaries. She was fighting a cold. She cried at one point on Monday. When all was said and done, she had won the more populous states whilst Obama had taken the less populous ones but more of them.

The races coming up on Saturday: Louisiana, the caucus in Washington, Democrats in Nebraska, Republicans in Kansas and as well as the Democratic primary in the Virgin Islands which like American Samoa, can vote in primary but has no voice in the general election. On Sunday, Maine holds its Democratic primary in Maine. There will be a Potomac primary is next Tuesday. This is a primary that I am more interested in. It is the states of Virginia and Maryland and Washington, D.C. Look for LOTS of press on that day. it won't be near the juggernaut that last night was but it will be important.

Tidbits: Clinton saying "missourah". She's from Illinois. She should be saying Misery.

Elections....

So, its been two days since election day. And three weeks since I posted anything. Let's just say, I needed the break. In fact, there are still things I should be doing like a mid-term and a presentation tomorrow but, eh...

The House is now controlled by the Democrats. If you didn't hear about this, put down the funnies. Nancy Pelosi, a congresswoman from the gloriously liberal city of San Francisco will indeed be the new Speaker of the House. Dennis Hastert, the outgoing Speaker of the House and Republican from the weird as all fuck state of Illinois (I'm from there, I can say that), has stated he will not seek any leadership positions in the new house.

It is not clear if the Senate will be controlled by any party. The Senate race in Virginia between George Allen and Jim Webb has not been completely decided. Due ti the slim margin, there is a recount going on. Allen's people have stated that he does not wish to drag this out. This is the last thing to decide before control can be determined. It would come down to 49 senators for both parties and two independants, both from New England. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat until he lost the primary to Ned Lamont, ran as an independant this year due to backlash for being pro-Iraq war.

Bernie Sanders, the only independant in the House, will take over for outgoing independant Senator, Jim Jeffords. This is an interesting story. Sanders is a Democratic socialist. Jeffords was a Republican until 2001 when the GOP shunned him enough to make him flee the party. So, he decided not to run again and is seat was won by another independant, albeit, a very different independant. So, does this make Vermont the capital of Independant thinking, or what?

Both Senators have stated publicly that they will caucaus with the Democrats. Lieberman is still a registered Democrat and may literally announce his decision to remain a Democrat. One can switch their party affiliations without any conscience or consultation with say their constituency. Just ask that fucker Norm Coleman from Minnesota. He was elected as the mayor of St. Paul as a Democrat (from New York, no less), then two years into his term, he decides he wants to be a Republican (granted the DFL party ain't lemonade and sweetcakes). St. Paul elected a Democrat and got a Republican. Let me tell ya, they felt gyped. So, go ahead Joe.

President Bush held a press conference yesterday and was properly humble. He announced that Donald Rumsfeld, one of his toadies, would resign from his office as Secretary of Defence. He will be replaced by former CIA chief Robert Gates who also ran the Iraq War Study Group. Apparently, this was in the works prior to election night. Why choose to announce it the day after the election? Well, it looks like Bush is listening to us. It also would have smacked of political ploy (more than it does now?) if he had done it in the last days of the election. I suppsoe the saying "The Buck Stops Here" means very little to the president. However, he took the blame for his party's loss this week to the outrageously motivated Democratic party.

And this is a loss for the GOP. The Democrats did not win the election. It was merely the GOP doing poorly. With Mark Foley and the fallout from that, the stupid assanine things Republicans did and the fact that a one-party government with no concerns for the largest sector of the country (the Middle Fucking Class!!!) was doing nothing to help them might have done it. When the Republican Party starts to regroup and figure out what they did wrong, I hope they realize it was not soley the war that turned voters off. It was the cronyism, response to Hurricane Katrina, the Religious Right, contracts for Halliburton and anyone else in Iraq, No Child Left Behind, Macaca, The Faith-Based Initiative, Arrogance, Karl Rove, Record profits for Exxon-Mobil, Dick Cheney's Shadow Government...

I could go on and I likely will. There are more things that leave middle class voters with a bad taste in their mouths. But I think nearly 3,000 dead is also one of them. Those who've died in Iraq for a cause that many of us are uncertain about should never be discounted. These men and women are fighting and dying in service to our country. Our reasons for going into this war were vague and proved uncredible. Yet, we must remain until the job is done. My reasons for stating this is history. In 1983, there was an attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. Over 200 marines were killed (and some Navy and Army personell) and the US left Lebanon. This was followed up by our hasty withdrawal from Iraq in 1991 after then President George Herbert Walker Bush told the Kurds and Shi'ites to rise up against Saddam Hussein. Regardless of how anyone feels about the war, we have to continue until the job is done and done well or we will be seen as the country who can't follow through with shit in the Middle East. That, dear readers, is what is at stake now.

Moving on to local politics: Amy Klobuchar, the Hennepin County Attorney, was elected to the Senate seat being vacated by fellow DFLer Mark Dayton. The margin of victory for Klobuchar was 1,278,915 to Mark Kennedy's 837,484. In precentages, that's 58% of total votes for Klobuchar to Kennedy's 38%. There were 87,324 votes cast beetween Independence (Ventura's formerly named Reform Party), the Green Party and the Constitution party.

Colleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower, who lives literally down the street from me, did not win
the 2nd Congressional District here in Minnesota. The seat was won by its incumbent, John Kline, a man who once carried the "football" for Reagan.

To many here in Minnesota, the re-election of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty was a surprise. As the night went on it appeared at one point that Hatch had a sizable and insurmountable lead over the Governor. But when all the ballots were counted, Pawlenty had won a second term. The margin of victory was slim: 21,132 votes seperate the two. Independence party Peter Hutchinson, a far cry form the flamboyant Jesse Ventura, yet endorsed by him, won 6% of the vote. While this is, yes, not enough to win, it does enable the party to gain more public funding for campaigns. This can only help to build the party to be an even stronger and legitimate voice here in Minnesota. That is a good thing.

One other point about the Minnesota Gubernatorial Election this year: the withdrawal of Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey. This Satanist and Vampire announced his candidacy for Governor on Friday the 13th of January. On the 31st of that month, after his schoolbus driver wife lost her job due to being Wiccan, he was arrested for stalking, fleeing and I think faking his own death. His trial was supposed to begin in July but I've heard nothing on him. The man also founded the Vampires, Witches and Pagan party last year. One can only imagine what happened to that.

On this day, in 1989, an event occurred that changed my life forever. After 28 or so years, the wall dividing Berlin was opened. East and West Germany ceased to exist as separate entities. Since that day, I've looked at the world with a different view. I've seen what can be done when people work, strive, dream, hope... for change. I have since then devoured the news looking for more stories like this. Well, I really just love the news. But my desire to work in the field of politics, NGOs, diplomacy or journalism was sparked by seeing people dancing on the Berlin Wall.

That's about it from here. Currently, CNN is reporting that Ed Bradley, correspondent for CBS' 60 Minutes, has died of Leukemia at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. I can't help but be a little sad as another of my heroes passes. His candor and style will be sorely missed.

The President came to my town

Today the President visited the illustrious state of Minnesota. He flew in at 1405 on the dot. In completely unrelated news, people were taken to local area hospitals after complaining of throat and various irritations from fumes in the airport. The President spoke at the Marriot hotel here in Minnetonka about Health Care. Apparently, he thinks we pay too much for health care and that there needs to be more "transparency" in billing. As the president spoke, there were several people across the street protesting the President's visit along the lines of Health Care for all. At the same time there should be less Government involvement. However, I can't see how this policy can be implemented without such interverence.

The other part of his stop here in the Land of Too Many Damned Lakes was to stump for Michele Bachman in her campaign against Patty Wetterling for the 6th Congressional District in Minnesota. Wetterling, in case this is unknown, has dealt with the disappearance and apparent kidnapping of her son Jacob since 1989. She did not win her last bid for political office.

But aside from State politics, the Marines got the green light to recall 2,500 troops to active service from the CiC himself. I can see the tumult this will cause. I have friends who have served in Afghanistan and are now inactive and using their GI Bill to get their higher educations. I can only wonder what will happen to them.

Two other Bush bits before I move on to other topics of the day: Lebanon and Deliverance.

1. So the shaky truce between Israel and Hezbollah is more like a break to make more snowballs, but Bush has pladged $230M to Lebanon. However, that being said, an expert at the Brookings Institute believes that $1B (or thereabouts) is necessary to rebuild. I guess the rest of the world better pony up.

2. Bush pardons Moonshiner and bit player in the 1972 film "Deliverance". This article should be read just for the comments the moonshiner makes.

Ok, moving on to other fish: The Democrats. So this is an easy target I know, but bear with me. They all are. The Democrats say we should pull out of Iraq. Now is this just a way of continuing their stance from three years ago for the sake of voters? I would be one of the first to say "Hell yeah, I'm liberal" [enter spitting sound here] but this just bakes my moussaka. I was opposed to the war at the inset. I protested as well. But I knew in my heart that if we went through with it, we would have to do it 110%. 100% will not do and certainly 75% won't either. After pulling out of Lebanon in 1984 and abandoning revolters in Iraq in 1991, we have to stay the course. We have a reputation of cutting and running in the Middle East when things get hairy. If we ever want to be taken seriously on the global stage, this is the time to ensure it. Otherwise, everything we've done in Iraq would be for nothing and fruitless. So wisen up Dems. We need to stick around for better and for worse. Even though it sucks.

Another messed up coincidence. A poll released today says that while people believe the Democrats are better at handling the war in Iraq, they also think the Republicans are better at combating terrorism. Sure, they got Buchanan on their side. He wanted to build a giant fence to keep out the damned illegals. According to some, terrorists are now getting themselves smuggled into the US through the Mexican border. In the meantime, a party that wants nothing to do with a war would be the better one to run it? As the Nazi on 'Laugh In' would say, "Very Interesting".

One last note and its a very heartfelt one. The man who photographed the famous photo of Marines and a Navy Corpsman raising a flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima, has died at the age of 94. Though his photo carried some controversy it nevertheless stirred feelings of patriotism and loyalty in soldiers, sailors and civilians. As a military kid, sailor, US citizen and amateur photographer, I salute a very noble man, Joe Rosenthal.