Pay no attention to that man behind the white hood

In his September 17, 2006 column, Kansas City Star columnist Rhonda Chriss Lokeman praises Sen. Robert Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, for fathering Constitution Day.

"No one in Congress is more passionate about the Constitution than the West Virginian Byrd," Lokeman writes. "He carries a small bound copy in his pocket 'close to my heart.'"

Further:

"Critics view Byrd, who opposed the war in Iraq, as an obstructionist to this presidency and a partisan Democrat when, in fact, he is one of the few principled leaders in Congress willing to lecture his colleagues on constitutional matters. His is not a partisan pitch but the voice of a true patriot."

What Lokeman, an African-American, failed to note was that this "true patriot" was a Kleagle (i.e., recuiter) with the Ku Klux Klan, participated in the filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and voted against confirming both African-American nominees to the Supreme Court (Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas). Byrd also opposed George W. Bush's African-American nominees, such as Federal Judge Janice Rogers Brown and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In addition, Byrd used the N-word on national television as late as 2001. As an example of blatant liberal media bias, Byrd's recent use of the word was largely ignored, while GOP Sen. George Allen's alleged used of the word when he was in college has been a major issue in newspapers and on the network news.

Unfortunately, for the Bush-hating Lokeman, Byrd's opposition to President Bush trumps all else, including Byrd's racism and opposition to laws that probably made it possible for Lokeman to have the column she writes today.