A Byrd in the Hand

There's a photo making its way around the Internet of Hillary Clinton getting a kiss on the cheek from, who a banner across the photo claims, is a "KKK leader" and wonders why the media is overlooking this.  It all has gotten increased attention now because the Klan's Grand Dragon Will Quigg just endorsed Ms. Clinton two days ago.

A few things worth noting in this oh-so-fun world of the Internet.

The photo (which I intentionally don't include here) wasn't of a KKK leader.  It was Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, a man widely admired by both parties.  And while it's true that 60 years earlier he had been a fairly low-level member in charge of a small, local branch of the Klan (not even close to being a "leader" of the KKK, most especially in the present tense), he later repeatedly and relentlessly rejected his time in the organization and became one of the most outspoken defenders of Civil Rights.

In fact, one of Byrd's famous quotes was -- "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times . . . and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."

We all make mistakes in our lives, some worse (or even far worse) than others.  But it's how we address those mistakes, correct them, and hopefully turn them into virtues that speaks to who a person is.  Robert Byrd addressed his very long-distant mistakes and turned his past into one of historic virtues.  That's who Hillary Clinton was kissing on the cheek.  That's who pretty much all the Senate and Civil Rights leaders came to admire.

It's worth noting, too, that that quote from Mr. Byrd about not minding that he has to apologize over and over again was actually included in the article someone sent me in order to supposedly prove that all the charges were true about Ms. Clinton kissing a KKK leader.  Reading and comprehension is such a lost art.

It's also worth noting that pretty much no articles I've read about the current KKK Grand Dragon endorsing Hillary Clinton believe that it is even remotely sincere, but rather is meant to deflect attention from the Klan's long and vocal support for Donald Trump, which has been getting him huge criticism.  The London  Telegraph quoted Brian Levin, director of the Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino, “Based on his past statements, it doesn’t appear highly credible that he has changed his effusive allegiance to Donald Trump, The timing seems suspect. I think this is a function of not wanting to undermine the Trump campaign.” 

Just for the record, one of those past statements by Will Quigg of effusive allegiance to Donald Trump was --

And now, supposedly, the Grand Dragon has decided that Donald Trump is no longer his guy, but it's Hillary Clinton, instead.  And why so?  Because, he says, he supports her apparent "hidden agenda" -- which as it whimsically happens, he won't reveal to reporters when they called to ask what on earth he's talking about.

"The timing seems suspect" is such a polite phrase.  

I also saw online comments that Hillary Clinton has "never" rejected this KKK Grand Dragon support.  Given that the "endorsement" came less than two days earlier, it would seem that "never" is a tad hyperbolic.  And also given that there was a major four-state primary that all campaigns were focused on, I suspect that the Clinton campaign had other things to deal with first, rather than take the time to put out a press release rejecting an unbelievable  fake endorsement.  Never mind that no reporter has yet asked the campaign about it.  If anyone does take the endorsement seriously enough to risk ask, it's hard not to imagine it not it getting spurned with a flourish and dismissed as the fraud it clearly is.

But then, anyone who actually believes that Hillary Clinton wants and deserves this endorsement isn't going to be convinced by anything to the contrary anyway