Sen. Robert Byrd, longest-serving member of Congress, has died at 92 Longest serving senator. The only senator to serve as Grand Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops for the Ku Klux Klan. As far as i know the only senator to use the term "niggra" on meet the depressed w/Tim Russert. I'm sure he will be missed by dixiecrats and racist everywhere. The David Duke of his day. At least now they can stop naming everything in the state after him.
And in the Appalachians, somewhere, a bird still sings. I, for one, have never understood how this man was so popular, but now that he's gone, well, I...still don't understand. But even Klansmen need love, so adios to El Hefe. May the great spirit take him where he belongs. On a side note, there should be a retirement age for Senators.
Why's that? So if we the people decide we want to keep voting someone into the senate we shouldn't be able to? How does that make any sense?
Notice how all the MSM reports (with the exception of Fox) have completely ignored Byrd's KKK history?
Ever been to west Virginia? If you had, you'd understand. They don't refer to it as the "Hillbilly" for nothing. Absolutely, i harbor no ill will towards the man, his transgressions are between him and his God.
How does it make sense to keep any civil servant past retirement age? These Senators who wish to hang onto power long past the age of usefulness are doing so for the purpose of milking and porking the system to death. Oh, wait, that may be a description of the entire senate... I'm not saying it should be a 65 retirement age, that only goes for us little people. 75 sounds good for congresspersons, maybe 80. Why would you want your country run by alzheimer's patients?
Who are you to decide at what age someone is no longer useful? If the person is incapable of making good decisions then people should vote him/her out of office. Do you honestly believe age is the sole factor in determining someone's sanity? So you believe all persons 65 and up should be forced to retire for better or for worse? Who do you expect to support these old, insane people?
I don't think he's advocating putting the grandparents out to pasture or killing them off or anything. I agree though that an 80 year old man who has served as long as Byrd is more than likely completely out of touch with the problems faced by the average American, its not as much a question of sanity, its more of a question of understanding the life experiences faced by the average American family. If a man of Mr. Byrds age wants to be a greeter at Wal-mart, etc., then by all means go right ahead, but i don't want him making decisions that will profoundly affect me and my family.
So vote him out. It's that simple. I understand the concept of the possibility of someone being out of touch with the problems of today, which in that case means they're doing a shitty job, so vote them out. Just because there is room for error doesn't mean you should create even more. Drug prohibition is a good example. For a stoner forum where almost every single member can agree that no one should tell others how to live their lives, there is an awful lot of picking and choosing when it comes to practicing it.
West Virginia kept voting him in cause of the federal money his seniority brought to the state, that's why everything in the state is named after him. That accompanied with his support of the coal industry is what kept him in office. While i understand he represents W.V. however because of his seniority his decisions as a senator have a profound effect on the rest of the country as well. While he might be perfectly in touch with a state like W.V. with the oldest median age amongst all the other states he is most certainly out of touch with the interest of the majority of the other 98% of the country. Its not telling someone how to live their lives.....its telling him it time to hang it up cause of the way his decisions are affecting the way others are required to live their lives......like maybe get off my back for smoking a joint.
Waiting until a retarded politician dies in his 90's is not how we're supposed to get rid of incumbents.
So because someone in a position of power made a choice that negatively affect another state, we should set an age limit? What's your solution for younger politicians that make choices that negatively affect other states? What about some states that want to boycott Arizona? You're gravely mistaken if you think W.V. is the only state in the country that makes choices that screw someone else. I still don't understand how his age has anything to do with him making bad decisions, when other younger politicians do stupid shit as well. Obviously age isn't a factor, your mental condition is. Just because you're old it doesn't imply senility.(lol did I use that correctly? Sounds weird.) If you're old and incapable of doing a good job as a senator or whatnot, then no one should vote for you. Same thing if you're young. Does that also mean you should exclude all young people, despite them being qualified? Where does it end? I suppose it would stop at all future seats being awarded by a select few individuals, and I'm sure that would be WONDERFUL! That's why they're elected by popular vote, so we can get rid of them whenever we want.
Sounds like a novel idea, if only the average person followed their elected officials' policies and voted accordingly (or even voted at all).
We can remember that when the US constitution was written, a 70 year old person, was a very rare thing. 92 was unheard of, thusly no provisions were thought necessary for these aging legislators being retired. They also never imagined the level of corruption that their system would produce, or that the population would become so disinterested in their own governance, that they would see their system become a strawman contest, or like a vote of Coke vs. Pepsi. If age limits are not appealing, then term limits would work as well. I'm not opposed to the elderly living full wonderful lives, my parents are both over 90, and both still voting. And they both have alzheimer's disease. And no matter how much I love them, I am glad their votes are not on the Congressional floor.