# Sen. Robert Byrd dead at 92 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 28, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768 "2010-06-28T10:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/1 "2010-06-28T10:34:05Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100628/ap\_on\_go\_co/us\_obit\_byrd](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100628/ap_on_go_co/us_obit_byrd) This will be an interesting replacement. Gov. Joe Manchin-WV is a Democrat, but is very conservative. There is some speculation that he will appoint himself. He is pro-life, an NRA member, a tax cutter, and doesn’t like spending. If he was in any other state in the country, he would be a Republican. Whoever gets appointed won’t be anything close to a liberal icon like Byrd. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/2 "2010-06-28T10:55:27Z")
I just posted this on my Facebook- Senator Robert Bird of West Viriginia has passed away at 92. He arose from a Klan-membership past to care for his constituents, fight for civil rights & the needy, take care of his family and honor Christ. I disagreed with some of his political views & efforts, but I gotta respect the man. Rest well, old warrior Robert Byrd, in the Light of Lord Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/3 "2010-06-28T11:25:22Z")
To live 92 years, doing a job you love, was a great gift… for us and for him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in the peace of the Lord. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/4 "2010-06-28T11:33:00Z")
It’s really too bad that in his misguided youth he was in the Klan. Of course he has apologized for this a thousandfold, and in my opinion that good that he did for all Americans more than made up for his youthful mistakes. He’ll be missed. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/5 "2010-06-28T14:28:42Z")
Well, maybe the guy did some good-but the river of pork that Byrd directed to WV is pretty good evidence of why we need term limits on politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/6 "2010-06-28T14:54:36Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100628/ap\_on\_go\_co/us\_obit\_byrd](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100628/ap_on_go_co/us_obit_byrd) > > This will be an interesting replacement. Gov. Joe Manchin-WV is a Democrat, but is very conservative. There is some speculation that he will appoint himself. He is pro-life, an NRA member, a tax cutter, and doesn’t like spending. If he was in any other state in the country, he would be a Republican. > > Whoever gets appointed won’t be anything close to a liberal icon like Byrd. It’s unlikely that anyone will be appointed. WV law mandates an election when a Senate seat is vacated with more than 2.5 years left on the clock. Senator Byrd died six days ahead of that cutoff - there will probably be an election. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/7 "2010-06-28T17:32:28Z")
Rip, Senator, and thank you, sir. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/8 "2010-06-28T17:38:01Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It’s really too bad that in his misguided youth he was in the Klan. Of course he has apologized for this a thousandfold, and in my opinion that good that he did for all Americans more than made up for his youthful mistakes. How youthful was he in 2001 when he said this about race relations? > [@Robert Byrd](#): > > They’re much, much better than they’ve ever been in my lifetime … I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us … I just think we talk so much about it that we help to create somewhat of an illusion. I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, ‘Robert, you can’t go to heaven if you hate anybody.’ We practice that. There are white niggers. I’ve seen a lot of white niggers in my time, if you want to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I’d just as soon quit talking about it so much. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/9 "2010-06-28T17:52:31Z")
Byrd voted against the Iraq war funding and gave a lecture about how bad it would get. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/10 "2010-06-28T17:54:42Z")
Byrd was the master at using taxpayer money to build monuments to his own ego. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/11 "2010-06-28T18:14:52Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How youthful was he in 2001 when he said this about race relations? Bizarre and not polite, but racist? I don’t know. I’ve never been completely clear on what he was saying there. However it does make a nice contrast with the obituaries that talk about how he loved to make reference to the Bible and the histories of ancient Greece and Rome in his Senate speeches. Did he still harbor some racist ideas at the end of his life? Maybe. That’s true of more than one 90-year-old. Did he overcome the racism of his earlier life? I’m not an expert on his life, but I think he did. That’s to be commended. This is someone who saw the country through an incredible amount of changes. This is a guy who won his first election by virtue of being the candidate who played the fiddle on the campaign trail. [Hmm- maybe virtue was not the word I wanted there.] And I was impressed by how devoted he was to the Senate’s role. As much as I dislike it when people get into politics and refuse to leave, the Senate has lost a lot of institutional memory without him and Ted Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/12 "2010-06-28T18:15:01Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How youthful was he in 2001 when he said this about race relations? How _racist_ is that? :dubious: You must condemn Mark Twain far more strongly for writing _Huckleberry Finn_, don’t you? Are you reading only for the existence of a word, or for content? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/13 "2010-06-28T18:24:24Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It’s really too bad that in his misguided youth he was in the Klan. Of course he has apologized for this a thousandfold, and in my opinion that good that he did for all Americans more than made up for his youthful mistakes. He’ll be missed. Meh. So was Harry Truman, very briefly; but he went on to racially integrate the Armed Forces, at considerable political risk. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/14 "2010-06-28T18:27:16Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Byrd was the master at using taxpayer money to build monuments to his own ego. If so, how do you describe Ted Stevens who raised it to an art form. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/15 "2010-06-28T18:31:08Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > If so, how do you describe Ted Stevens who raised it to an art form. Another arrogant blowhard who every right thinking american should be glad is no longer in the Senate. Both should be on the poster for term limits along with FRK. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/16 "2010-06-28T18:32:09Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > It’s unlikely that anyone will be appointed. WV law mandates an election when a Senate seat is vacated with more than 2.5 years left on the clock. Senator Byrd died six days ahead of that cutoff - there will probably be an election. Not true. [http://wvgazette.com/News/201006280227](http://wvgazette.com/News/201006280227) I think you are partially right. A special election will have to be held at some point before 2012 when his term would have otherwise expired. However, Manchin does have the authority to make an interem appointment. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/17 "2010-06-28T19:09:06Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Not true. [http://wvgazette.com/News/201006280227](http://wvgazette.com/News/201006280227) > > I think you are partially right. A special election will have to be held at some point before 2012 when his term would have otherwise expired. However, Manchin does have the authority to make an interem appointment. As a WV resident, I have to agree that Manchin will make an interim appointment. Byrd is a very controversial figure around here, but he has been a mainstay in the political landscape. A lot of local flags are flying at half-mast today. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/18 "2010-06-28T19:09:40Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Another arrogant blowhard who every right thinking american should be glad is no longer in the Senate. Both should be on the poster for term limits along with FRK. As long as tenure is a decision maker in Senate seats and positions, you would do well to return your senators and congressmen. After they get to head committees they are very powerful. That is when they can help deliver their promises. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/19 "2010-06-28T19:19:18Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > As long as tenure is a decision maker in Senate seats and positions, you would do well to return your senators and congressmen. After they get to head committees they are very powerful. That is when they can help deliver their promises. Sure, from a pragmatic point of view, that’s a reasonable argument. But the philosophical argument for term limits rests precisely on a belief that this sort of tenure privilege should not be such a large factor in our national politics. I’m not really taking a stand one way or the other. I’m just pointing out that your argument is not really a rebuttal to the call for term limits. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768/20 "2010-06-28T19:24:21Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > As long as tenure is a decision maker in Senate seats and positions, you would do well to return your senators and congressmen. After they get to head committees they are very powerful. That is when they can help deliver their promises. I didn’t know you voted for Spencer Abraham’s reelection. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-robert-byrd-dead-at-92/544768.md?page=2)