Death exposes Republicans' racial hypocrisy

The death of a Democratic political figure brings out the worst in the Republican Right.

Following Robert Byrd's death, the right-wing blogosphere has shown glee in pointing out that Byrd was racist...70 years ago.

Um, that was 70 years ago. Seventy. Despite Byrd's racism as a young man, he was a reliable backer of civil rights measures in recent years.

Byrd's later civil rights support doesn't justify his earlier racism. There's absolutely no excuse for the bigotry he once displayed. But at least the change in his views shows that he learned from his mistakes and turned over a new leaf - something the Republican intelligentsia won't do. The GOP is the home of Rand Paul, who opposes much of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It's also the home of Jim Talent and other politicos who sport recent links to the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens.

And the Republican Party is the home of Trent Lott, who said only a few years ago that America would have been better off if Strom Thurmond had won his presidential bid, which was built on a racist platform. The GOP is also the home of the bulk of the Tea Party movement, which is fueled largely by racism.

Republicans attack a Democrat for being racist 70 years ago, but they give a free pass to the continuing racism of their own party.

My writings have made much of the Democrats' expanding mimicry of right-wing Republican stances. In fact, I switched to the Green Party because of it. But make no mistake: These days, the GOP has nothing short of a monopoly on racism. I can't think of a single major Democratic politician today who currently displays the brand of raw racism that now pervades the GOP.