I’m stunned sitting here watching him on C-Span. He looks withered beyond belief, is hunched over, and is barely able to speak, and has a helper turn pages for him.
Is he that much of an egomaniac that he needs to hang on?
Well, at his age, who’s gonna hire him to work a real job?
I don’t see this as an example of any kind of over-developed ego on Byrd’s part. He’s got a good deal going. Why shouldn’t he milk it for all it’s worth?
The fact that >50% of his constituents feel that he was the best available choice is depressing as hell though. I honestly don’t know which is worse, that he’s managed to fool, bribe or coerce enough people to keep gaining reelection or that he might actually be the best available.
That’s an obscene overstatement: he is actually only 92.
Consider this: he is currently third in line for the presidency, after Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. Scary, no?
Power in Congress comes not from competence, but seniority. West Virginians are dreading Byrd’s imminent death. He brings so much pork to the state and it’s all going to go away in a short period of time. West Virginia is third in the country in pork spending (earmarks) at $146 per capita. By contrast, Wyoming gets only $12.28 per capita.
This old fool (Byrd) has been senile for the last 25 years. It is a shocking indictment of American politics…but the fact is, a LOT of people have paid a LOT of money to keep Byrd where he is. Plus, his staff like their $100K+ cushy jobs-so the old fool keeps occupying his chair.
Face it, his chair is powerful, so the puppetmasters who run the senate, like him where he is.
By the way, his website doesn’t advertise the fact that he was once a “Grand Kleagle” in the KKK-why is this?
Byrd has become nothing more than a giant piggy bank for the state of West Virginia. His standing in the Senate gives him much of that ability. And he is proud of it. WV is a relatively poor state and he knows that the dollars he funds are important to a lot of people back home.
When he leaves office, he knows that it will cost the state a ton of Federal dollars. So I think a lot of the motivation to stick around has a lot to do with that. The people also know how much he brings to the state and don’t want to let him go.
Every time an old doddering Senator is running for re-election, they try to remind people how much money they receive via the Senator’s senority. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Probably because everyone already knows it because right-wingers never miss a chance to remind everyone at every opportunity. Ted Kennedy is dead, and Byrd will be soon, I wonder who the right is going demonize next? I don’t think that any Democratic Senator has any skeltons in their closet like those two guys.
He’s clearly a Sith.
10 years ago he certainly was not senile. Can’t speak clearly and hunched over don’t mean that he can’t think. While that may in fact be true, no evidence has been presented that his mind is gone. Let’s compare that with the 100 year old Sen. Strom Thurmond, whose mind was gone the last several years of his service.
As for his past conservatism and racism as part of the KKK, he has repudiated that. He has said for over 40 years that was wrong. There are conservative dopers who are unable to admit any kind of mistake or wrongdoing. I’m all for repentant former racists who walk the walk.
As for Byrd, I personally have had little use for him throughout his entire career, except when he warned us before we went into Iraq what a stupid idea it was.
So explain to this non-American how this senator’s seniority translates into dollars for his State?
Completely agree.
I’m a conservative/libertarian. I *despise *Byrd. Having said that, I really wish the conservative pundits (e.g. Sean Hannity) would stop referring to him as Robert “KKK” Byrd. As you stated, Byrd has repeatedly apologized for his past association with the group. When someone sincerely apologizes, we should forgive…
I am a liberal/libertarian, and I have to believe that if the situation was reversed, the liberal pundits (Keith Olbermann et al) would never let a conservative former Klansman live down his past either…
That said, I would bet that in his heart of hearts, Robert Byrd still wants nothing to do with the goddam niggers.
He is very conservative. So the shoe is on the other foot.
Seniority is extremely important. Legislative business is largely a function of various committees. If you are a senior Senator, you have a better shot of being on committees that are important to you. And you get a shot to chair subcommittees where much of the dirty work is done.
A junior member of the Senate more or less gets to be on a committee where there is an available spot. From time to time, the party in power may guarantee a committee seat to a particular candidate should they win to help them win elections. For instance, a candidate from Nebraska may be guaranteed a seat on the Agriculture committee. Then they can tell their constituents that, if elected, they will serve on a committee that handles issues important to people in that state.
But more often than not, senior members will grab slots on prime committees. Prime committees include Appropriations (where many of the handouts are determined), Commerce Science and Transportation (which doles out large amounts of transportation money). Being on the committees gives you your best shot at getting cold hard cash for your district. If you aren’t on the committee, then you might have to ask a member of that committee to introduce an appropriation for you. That means doing people favors.
Byrd is a former Chair of Appropriations. As Chairman, nothing goes to a vote if you don’t bring it for a vote. So guess what, nothing gets to a vote without your appropriations in the bill. He has since given up the Chair, but still serves as a senior member and can push through money. Byrd also serves as Chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee. So if he needs something, all he has to do is plop it into a bill and then send it to committee. Senators can object of course. And maybe if they make a big enough stink, that particular expenditure won’t make it into the final budget. But then, you should be praying that Mr Byrd doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning, because the next time you ask for money, you might not get it.
Welcome to the sausage factory.
The liberal pundits would fall over in shock when a conservative actually apologized for their actions and maintained their career.
George Wallace was an example from the right side. While he wasn’t celebrated by the left, he didn’t receive the constant denigration from the opposition as Byrd constantly gets.
Due to his seniority, he became the chairman (In times of Democratic control of Congress) of the Appropriations Committee, which is where spending bills are generated. AS Chairman, he could essentially control where the funds went, so nobody would challenge him on directing funds to his state for fear that he would punish them by not allowing funding to go to their home state. It is a very powerful position.
The current chairman of the Appropriations Committee is 86 year old Daniel Inyoue from Hawaii. The #1 state for earmarks? Hawaii.
And that sort of seniority, even after you hand over the official chairmanship, also means that there is a large amount of junior legislators, of people that right now are in the middle or the top of their careers in local/state politics, in the civil service, and in the private world, who owe Byrd, Inouye, etc. a big deal. They make sure the senior Senator’s constituents get treated well.
For example, dear Strom Thurmond was chair (?) of the Armed Forces committee. That meant that when bases closed, they weren’t in South Carolina. Frankly, that alone is so many jobs and so much money that I’m sure there were people voting to keep him in office just to keep the bases when they were closing them in other states. Multiply that times the number of committees these very senior people have in their pockets and you don’t even have to consider individual constituent services to understand the importance of keeping that person in the position.
Here’s a little less political perspective:
Elderly people, particularly men who have been in what they have considered important positions, have a very difficult time letting go of their working life. Many of them have devoted their entire life to building a postition of status and have very little to fall back on for self-esteem issues when they retire.
Our social structure has promoted this attitude in men that their job is the most important thing about them for years and it really does a number on a lot of men. They end up sitting in a wheelchair staring out the window and waiting for death. Easy to see why a person would chose to stay if they can get away with it.
And if you have enough power people are reluctant to rock the boat and tell you to go fishing. I’ve seen this in medicine and the legal system to the point of absurdity.