The Liberal Idea of "Great"

Author Ira Shapiro--a former senate aid--has a book out praising senators who supposedly worked together back in the 70's. I'll leave the book to its own merits but did find this interesting in the review in todays Inqy:

According to Shapiro, once upon a time - specifically, the 1960s and 1970s - the Senate was dominated not by villains but rather by profoundly inspired, principled, and open-minded public servants. Among its members were Howard Baker, Robert Byrd, Jacob Javits, Ted Kennedy, and Ed Muskie - plus a present survivor of that era, Richard Lugar. The Last Great Senate challenges historian Lewis Gould's 2005 assertion that the post-World War II body had injuriously impeded "the nation's vitality and evolution."

Emphasis mine.

So Kennedy and Byrd were "principled, and open-minded public servants", huh?

Hmmm, I seem to recall that Kennedy was really open-minded when he allowed a young woman to die when he crashed his car into water in Chappaquiddick, Massachussetts; a scandalous act that what white-washed for decades. He was really open minded when he and his liberal buddy Chris Dodd assaulted a waitress.

And what of the "principled" Robert Byrd? Yea, Byrd was highly "principled' when he served as a Kleagle for the Ku Klux Klan in West Virginia (also white-washed). He was very "openminded" when he said this on TV:



I say to Mr. Shapiro--a man who pines for the old days back when we had racists and murderers in the Senate--that no sir, I have no desire to return to the days we had these vermin representing us. Yes, they may have agreed on some legislation but it I'll pass. If one wants to see real cross-aisle compromise, one only needs to look at the Voting Rights and Civil Rights acts where Republicans overwhelmingly voted to pass the landmark laws while southern Senate Democrats fought it tooth and nail (including Al Gore's father and Clinton mentor Sen. Fulbright).