# I'm really starting to like this Senator Byrd fellow **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 20, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906 "2003-03-20T21:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/1 "2003-03-20T21:38:41Z")
[http://www.truthout.org/docs\_03/printer\_032103A.shtml](http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/printer_032103A.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/2 "2003-03-20T21:41:11Z")
He happens to be speaking on the Senate floor right now. [CSPAN2](http://www.c-span.org/watch/index.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS2). ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/3 "2003-03-20T21:49:29Z")
He is one of the few people in the Congress who understands why it was that the founding fathers specifically gave the power to declare war to the legislative rather than the executive branch. Too bad the other 99% don’t get it, or would rather not have to make tough decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/4 "2003-03-20T21:49:46Z")
A great speech (except for the god blessing at the end). ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/5 "2003-03-20T21:53:36Z")
At least he acknowledges and regrets his youthful indiskkkretions! ---
**Author:** ![CTB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@CTB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CTB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/6 "2003-03-20T22:01:41Z")
A standing ovation for a representative who, in this speech at least, remembers why the founding fathers ensured that there was a deliberative body to counteract the dangers of executive unilateral action. Nearly every other member of the legislature on both sides of the aisle should resign in disgrace. Not because of whichever stance they have chosen in this particular endeavour, but because of their cowardly obeisance to the executive branch. CTB ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/7 "2003-03-20T22:19:54Z")
An excellent speech. If only it had come from an excellent man. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/8 "2003-03-21T03:57:41Z")
I never understood why Congress abdicated it’s responsibility, per the constitution, to own the authority to declare war. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/9 "2003-03-21T07:15:13Z")
Very good speech. Regarding Byrd’s checkered past… I’m curious, has he ever stated anything (in relatively recent times) regarding his involvement with the KKK? Given his current political views, I imagine that he would have recanted at some point, but I haven’t heard about anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/10 "2003-03-21T15:53:16Z")
Whoa! My ignorance of this guy is embarrassing. He’s a KKK-er? Ohmygod. Did he have an awakening or something? His speech doesn’t sound like someone who embraces Klan mentality. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/11 "2003-03-21T16:02:46Z")
He _was_ in the KKK. He renounced it long ago. The [Hindustan Times](http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_128309,0041.htm) has a little article on it. > [@](#): > > Senator Robert Byrd, the formidable 84-year-old Democrat from West Virginia has taken time off to act in a film as well. But Byrd, unlike Sinha, is a lawmaker who is not only a regular in the Senate but one who makes his presence felt both in the Senate and its committees. Not long ago, he gave a torrid time to Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, who recently quit the Bush cabinet. > > Byrd, however, has evoked criticism on a different count. No one is complaining about his shooting schedules for the film, “Gods and Generals”, a Civil War epic that is due for release in February. The problem, they say, is with his role: of a confederate general who owned more than a dozen slaves. It is all the more so since Byrd has a disturbing past, having been a member of the white supremacist group, Ku Klux > Klan. > > The National Association for Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), a prominent civil rights outfit, has been quick to join issues with Byrd. “It is not in keeping with his Senate position to be playing that kind of role. I would have liked him to take another role, but we know what Senator Byrd is. He is a former KKK member,” remarked NAACP’s James Tolbert. > > But Byrd let it be known to his detractors that he has no problems with the role. “This film allowed me the opportunity to help bring American history to life, to spring it from the pages of history books into the flickering images of the movie screen,” he commented. > > Byrd’s KKK past came under a bit of fresh scrutiny during the recent plight of Trent Lott, who was driven out of the Senate Majority Leader’s post for some off-the-cuff remarks. But Byrd explained away his own past saying, remarking it was “a youthful indiscretion”. [Gods and Generals](http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2002121927) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/12 "2003-03-21T16:16:00Z")
Has he recanted? [Yes](http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/23/news_pf/Columns/Sen_Byrd_learns_from_.shtml). Many times – this is the first link from a nonpartisan source I could find. Should his feet be held to the fire for his odious 1930s behavior? Absolutely. Should all his views be overshadowed by it? Of course not. Way I see it, he’s a man that grew up in a viciously racist world and was viciously racist in his youth. He has tried to make up for it; he has apologized repeatedly. He still says some incredibly stupid things, sometimes (in 2001, he talked about how God commands us to love even white niggers), and he should be taken to task for it. But we can take him to task for that, and at the same time praise him for his perspicacity and eloquence in other matters. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/13 "2003-03-21T16:33:50Z")
That speech was beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/14 "2003-03-21T16:55:53Z")
**John Mace** -_I never understood why Congress abdicated it’s responsibility, per the constitution, to own the authority to declare war._ I assume it’s because they are politicians in it for the long haul and voting for war isn’t something people want on their voting record anymore. Better to let the 2-term-max fall guy take the heat. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/15 "2003-03-21T16:57:09Z")
I found the speech heavy-handed and trite. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/16 "2003-03-21T17:15:10Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by John Mace \* I never understood why Congress abdicated it’s responsibility, per the constitution, to own the authority to declare war. [QUOTE] Well, it could be explained (somewhat cynically) in political terms… To have it on record that you voted for or against a war could be potentially damaging either way. It’s easier when you can blame things like Vietnam on the big guy in the house. As for Byrd… enh. I might agree with many of the less hyperbolic sentiments, but the Senator himself generally tends toward so many partisan statements that he seemingly poisons his own well. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/17 "2003-03-21T17:37:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Mace \* > \*\*I never understood why Congress abdicated it’s responsibility, per the constitution, to own the authority to declare war. \*\* 😕 I seem to recall that Congress debated and approved a resolution authorizing this war. The constitution requires no particular form by which war is declared by Congress. It simply requires that Congress approve, which it has. Sua ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/18 "2003-03-21T18:03:25Z")
I don’t know how the guy did it, but somehow he just stuck himself into the middle of a frenetic series of votes on the FY 04 Budget Resolution, and he’s reading _poetry!_ The guy knows the rules better than anyone else out there. Maybe he’s just checking in at the lunch break. Check it out at the CSAN link I gave above. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-really-starting-to-like-this-senator-byrd-fellow/162906/19 "2003-03-21T22:22:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SuaSponte \* > **😕 I seem to recall that Congress debated and approved a resolution authorizing this war. > The constitution requires no particular form by which war is declared by Congress. It simply requires that Congress approve, which it has.** Senator Byrd’s point is that the resolution passed in October 2002 shifted the power to begin war from the Congress to the President, by allowing the President to choose whether or not he believed that war was necessary. Byrd’s point is that there are certain powers that Congress can delegate to the Executive Branch to administer, but there are others that Congress cannot be allowed to give away to the Executive Branch. Among those latter powers are the power of the purse and the power to declare war. If Congress shifts those powers to the President, Byrd would argue, the checks and balances of the Constitution begin to break down. Even if Congress willfully votes to shift those powers, it should not be allowed to do so, because it would be, in effect, passing laws that violate the fundamental intent of the separation of powers. This is more or less the core of his argument against the line item veto, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 (albiet for a slightly different reason, not worth going into here).