Changes

====Robert Byrd====

====Robert Byrd====

Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of [[Exalted Cyclops]] for his inborn leadership skills.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of [[Exalted Cyclops]] for his inborn leadership skills.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

[[File:Northam.jpg|thumb|350px|left|<center>Incumbent [[Democrat]] Gov. Ralph Northam.</center>]]

[[File:Northam.jpg|thumb|350px|left|<center>Incumbent [[Democrat]] Gov. [[Ralph Northam]].</center>]]

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight:

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight:

{{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}}  

{{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}}  

For years Democrat-aligned [[mainstream media]], and even now refer to Byrd as a "former klansman" however Byrd's spiritual mentor, Sen. Bilbo clarified the matter on ''[[Meet the Press]]:''  

For years Democrat-aligned [[mainstream media]], and even now refer to Byrd as a "former klansman" however Byrd's spiritual mentor, Sen. Bilbo clarified the matter on ''[[Meet the Press]]:''  

{{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}   

{{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}   

Democrats tried to block passage of the [[bi-partisan]] [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter|Common Dreams]] |date=February 28, 2006 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919043913/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}</ref>  The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South followed by buying off Blacks with [[Great Society]] [[welfare]] and [[affirmative action]] programs.  By the 1960s the Klan was so thoroughly infiltrated by [[FBI]] informers, the joke existed that a Klan cell of 6 members often consisted of 5 FBI informants and one klansman.  In 1981 when the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd was again elected Democrat Senate Leader to oppose [[Ronald Reagan]].

Democrats tried to block passage of the [[bi-partisan]] [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter|Common Dreams]] |date=February 28, 2006 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919043913/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}</ref>  The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South followed by buying off Blacks with [[Great Society]] [[welfare]] and [[affirmative action]] programs.  By the 1960s the Klan was so thoroughly infiltrated by [[FBI]] informers, the joke existed that a Klan cell of 6 members often consisted of 5 FBI informants and one klansman.  In 1981 when the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd was again elected Democrat Senate Leader to oppose [[Ronald Reagan]].