Taichiliberal
Shaken, not stirred!
West Virginia's Democratic Senator Robert Byrd was a recruiter for the Klan while in his 20s and 30s, rising to the title of Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. After leaving the group, Byrd spoke in favor of the Klan during his early political career. Though he claimed to have left the organization in 1943, Byrd wrote a letter in 1946 to the group's Imperial Wizard stating "The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." Byrd defended the Klan in his 1958 U.S. Senate campaign when he was 41 years old.[9]
Despite being the only Senator to vote against both African American U.S. Supreme Court nominees (liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas) and filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Byrd has since said joining the Klan was his "greatest mistake." The NAACP, at one time, gave him a 100% rating on their issues.[10] However, in a 2001 incident Byrd repeatedly used the phrase "white niggers" on a national television broadcast.[11]
Former Grand Wizard of the KKK David Duke won Louisiana's House Seat as a Republican and served from 1990-92. He NEVER DENOUNCED OR RENOUNCED HIS WHITE SUPREMACIST PAST OF TIES.
Unlike Byrd, who did
http://www.slate.com/id/2075662
Q: What has been your biggest mistake and your biggest success?
A: Well, it's easy to state what has been my biggest mistake. The greatest mistake I ever made was joining the Ku Klux Klan. And I've said that many times. But one cannot erase what he has done. He can only change his ways and his thoughts. That was an albatross around my neck that I will always wear. You will read it in my obituary that I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.