Byrd, who started off from a KKK base, eventually became a supporter of Civil Rights for the last third of his life.
It shows that an old dog CAN learn new tricks. The "Blue Dogs" in both houses should be required to read about his life. Maybe those dogs can learn some 'blue' tricks...

If for no other reason, he should be remembered for his brave opposition to the War in Iraq.

"He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again."

The Repbulicans are a lot smarter than the Democrats.

A lot of Republicans are retiring this year. That allows younger Republicans to take safe and marginal seats.

The Democrats could have done that in 2006 and 2008 but old Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd decided they wanted to stay in the Senate.

Now it appears that both seats are going to the Republicans.

Both were great Senators but both allowed their egos to get in the way and the cost is two Republican seats.

Most politicians have a wall or two with photographs of their accomplishments and associates. Byrd's office in the Hart building (not to be confused with his Capitol office, where you expected Henry Clay to come around the corner any minute) didn't have an inch of open space.

To one side, there is a frame with, IIRC, a couple faded slips of paper: "1.5 lb lamb chops 36¢, 3lbs sirloin 6¢ lb".

He first professional job was as a butcher -- and he never forgot it.

Hail to those "egos", which kept those two splendid warriors fighting to the end.

Yes, he was a Giant, in the mold of 19th Century politicians. A Power Broker, a Bringer of Pork.

And, perhaps, an example of the usefulness of Term Limits. But that won't happen, just as an apolitical redistricting this year won't happen. So, we are stuck with the fossilized wood in the Upper Chamber until Father Time works his way through that Petrified Forest.

Our only hope is that next session the D's will move to eliminate, or at least curb, the filibuster.

Comity is an 18th Century virtue, and has no place in the 21st Century's Club of 100.

It is a great achievement when we can look back on a mans life which is understood to be filled with life and death struggles that stop the mind , and only recall a bitter partisan edge . Yes republicans are a lot smarter than democrats , because they have provided a path for the common pathogens to control the great unwashed . That is why some people are awed and bowed , and good luck to them . So to the great republican idea of bringing 2 E coli's into every poor homes pot , and the general degradation of the environment where we are a control group in the widest possible dissemination of petrochemicals . Yes so smart .
Perhaps with the fresh young idea's of Cantor , Boehner , McConnell , Demint , the Okies slicksters Senator James Inhofe , and Tom Coburn , the overwhelming sense of the superiority of these fine examples of full blooded rage against the common good , provides a comfortable margin of proof of the depths of smartitude of the republican party . It sure does .

On the plus side...

1) The coal industry will lose their senior senator.

2) Pork spending will greatly decrease.

DAY, I agree with you on eliminating the filibuster rule. I spoke with an assistant of Senator Merkley's office, recently. She said she had never realized how difficult it was to bring about change and progress in the Senate. She went on to say they had been working for over the past year on projects which can not gain traction due to filibustering by the other side.

However, the good Senator Merkley's intelligence and determination, is, precisely, why I would hate to see Term Limits imposed. He is a true fighter and will become even better and stronger as he learns more and more about the system and rises in seniority. Thankfully, neither West Virginia nor Massachusetts had such ill thought out rules as Term Limits.

In spite of his shortcomings I respected Byrd, he was a faithful democrat.
In contrast - why was Haley Barbour fund raising in Washington this past weekend, when oil was washing up on his beaches and when he only deployed 58 of the National Guard he was allocated?

Steve, slight error that you need to correct:

The Democratic majority slips from 59 to 58 (with 2 indys), and NOT from 58 to 57.

When does the lawsuit by the WV GOP seeking an injunction demanding the vacancy be declared immediately get filed? Before or after noon today?

Davis X. Machina: you write that as if it's a bad thing.

In a democratic state, public positions are held by people who win elections. In a corrupt state, public positions are held by people who are appointed (see NY & Illinois senate seats).

We know the Democratic Party is not committed to actual democracy, but perhaps the WV folks could make a start in the right direction.

We know , some say , the fabric of delusion , from the whole cloth of fantasy .

Why is the media not addressing the biggest story of all here: Our Senate full of old men in their late 70s, 80s and 90s of various degrees of mental and physical deterioration. The fact a Senator Byrd, or Strom Thurmond, or these other characters that hang on as figurheads for years are allowed to be in the senate is just a flat out joke.

There needs to be some sort of age limit or an annual physical and mental exam or something to correct this problem.

By any reasonable measure, that institutional memory is simply irreplaceable. What's more, Byrd's passing represents the end of an era

This is a GOOD thing. Not to speak ill of a considerable politician, at all - but the institutional memory of the Senate, and how it was a century ago or more, is one of the more damaging facets of US government in the last quarter-century.

Man, are you guys off-base.

1) Exhuming: was Byrd such a figurehead when he spoke against the Iraq War, virtually alone at his level of the national government?

2) Beware of wishing for the filibuster to be abolished, because a Republican majority in the Senate may give it to you.