Honorable Senator Byrd

I am a little confused, but as it seems to be, I may be wrong about the Poll Theory. While our honorbale Senator Byrd is still kickin' Republican butt and still showing Capito how it is done, the recent poll stats produced may just be true. However, it is over a year away from the election, and poll stats at this point are absolutely useless other than tryin to persuade Capito to run. So, I guess my theory is not that far off.

Don Surber , Southern Appeal and so many other Fascist Cons...I mean, Neoconservatives out there are on the early attack against Byrd. If you skim through their blogs you can find harsh, disrespectful, evil, childish and idiotic remarks pertaining to the Great Senator who has proven himself time and time again. They show no respect for anything he has done, but I expect no less from them.

But to rub their stupidity in their faces, I quote an article from the WV Gazette.

June 06, 2005
Save 130th
# Keep 'em flying

It’s heartening that West Virginians of many sorts are teaming up in a spirited attempt to save the National Guard’s top-rated 130th Airlift Wing at Yeager Airport.

Immediately after the Pentagon announced its intent to strip the unit of its cargo planes — which would wipe out its reason for existence and imperil the 1,000-plus jobs it provides to the Charleston regional economy — protest rallies were held, and local civic figures launched a “Keep ‘Em Flying” resistance effort.

The Kanawha County Commission, Charleston City Council, Charleston Area Alliance and Yeager Airport board each donated $25,000 to the grassroots group.

Iraq war heroine Jessica Lynch — who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital by a strike team delivered by one of the Charleston unit’s planes — volunteered to be a spokesman for the campaign. “It’s important for all West Virginians to have the base here,” she told reporter Rick Steelhammer. After many surgeries for fractures she suffered in a combat ambush, Lynch still walks with a cane, but says, “I feel great, spiritually.” The 2003 Sunday Gazette-Mail West Virginian of the Year is to enter West Virginia University this fall to become a kindergarten teacher.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., has taken a forceful role in the drive to save the 130th. At first, the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which has authority to reverse the Pentagon decision, refused to visit the Charleston unit. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced that she arranged for West Virginians to get 30 minutes before BRAC when it meets June 28 at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, where the West Virginia planes would be transferred. Then Byrd scored two breakthroughs — persuading BRAC to send a team of analysts to Yeager June 14, and persuading the BRAC chairman to visit the 130th before a verdict is reached.

“West Virginians deserve a chance to make their case to the commission before it makes any decision,” Byrd said, “and having the chairman come to Charleston is a step in the right direction.” The senator added that “getting the 130th off this realignment-and-closure list will not be easy,” but “our job is to give them a convincing case to keep the 130th open.”

Byrd said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “had his facts wrong, plain and simple,” when he added the 130th to the downgrading list. For example, Rumsfeld said the 130th space at Yeager Airport can’t handle more than eight C-130 cargo planes — but numerous more C-130s were flown to Yeager Sunday during a rally, to prove the base’s capacity.

Also Sunday, investigative reporter Paul Nyden revealed that the quality of training at overcrowded Pope AFB has been rated as dismal by military studies.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., cosponsored a bill in Congress to delay base closures until a Quadrennial Defense Review is released next year. “It will cost taxpayers much more money to operate the 130th’s planes out of Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina than it does to operate them out of Charleston,” Rockefeller said. “I believe that matters to taxpayers, and I believe it’s about time the administration began to show some fiscal restraint.”

Rockefeller added that the 130th Airlift Wing “is one of the top outfits in the entire Air Force. The unit has been repeatedly cited for its excellence.” The 130th has performed extensively in the Iraq war.

The Yeager Airport wing, under National Guard direction, ranks among America’s best in military readiness — but the Pope base, under the Air Force, ranks near the bottom. News reports say Air Force planes were maintained poorly, partly because former Air Force official Darleen Druyun gave contracts illegally and was sent to prison for it.

The 130th is a valuable asset to central West Virginia. It’s encouraging that so many state figures are united in striving to save it.

You see, Capito tried her darndest to get someone to come and look at the Airfield. And she did this just for "props". It was a political move, not an action to help West Virginia. She thought that if she "saved the day" then she would definately get a chance to run against Byrd.

However she failed, and it took Senator Byrd to save the day. He stepped right in and got not only someone to reconsider moving the planes, but he persuaded BRAC to send a team of analysts to Yeager June 14, and persuaded the BRAC chairman to visit the 130th before a verdict is reached. WOW. You see, this is the kind of man Senator Byrd is. A man of action and a man of results. He cares about the people of West Virginia, not money, fame and the chance for a higher office.

People, I suggest you reflect on EVERYTHING Byrd has done for WV before you turn your backs on him. That goes for you too Surber. Oh, and "Southern Appeal", unfreeze your cold hearts.