Pettier Than Thou

The damage to the Republicans from the Trent Lott racism fiasco is not going away anytime soon, but the least people could do is let the issue slowly fade from memory rather making lame attempts to find a Democratic victim for the same sort of outrage, as a group of black Republicans did this week with Sen. Robert Byrd. We all know that Byrd, everyone’s favorite exemplar of stately senility, was in the Klan. It’s a matter of public record, going back to the days when a history of KKK membership was actually a political asset in places like West Virginia. If his 1941-43 stint in the Klan hasn’t warranted a sit-in in his office for the last several decades, one wonder why it deserves one now. The anti-Byrds say they’re angry that the Senator is portraying a Confederate general in the upcoming film Gods and Generals, though when you think about it, what could be more fitting? If he was playing William Lloyd Garrison I could understand the objection.

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