Byrd apologized

I saw the editorial cartoon trying to equate Rep. Steve Scalise with the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd. As usual, extremists can’t seem to deal with simple things, such as context.

Byrd was in the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s and, as he said later, “was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision, a jejune and immature outlook, seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions.”

He added, in 2005, “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.”

Scalise, in the second decade of the 21st century, more than 70 years later, can’t do the same thing. He claims he had no clue what David Duke stood for and he has used excuses rather than strong apologies.

Byrd was a product of his time. It’s sad that Republicans are looking for more products of that time rather than for people who live in today’s world.

David Teich

Spokane Valley

(Editor’s note: This letter was reprinted because a typographical error changed its meaning.)