The Lullaby of Byrdland

Why is it that the good people of West Virginia tolerate U.S. Senator Robert Byrd having his name on nearly everything in the state? Today I read that the Green Bank Telescope had been named for the former Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. Forgive? Yes. Forget? How can we when he keeps bringing up reasons to remember his past? The man is a (slowly) walking advertisement for the need for term limits in Congress.

Enough West Virginians have been content enough with his procurement of federal funds for the state to tolerate his occasional lunacy. In examining the placenames named after the Senator, a commonality appears: most if not all are or were financed with public monies. There is something perverse about a sitting representative of the state having publicly financed projects named for him. In fact, the state even has a law against erecting monuments to living persons:

Sen. Byrd has set a new standard for taxpayer-funded narcissism by convincing the West Virginia Legislature to erect a statue of himself in the state Capitol. The statue's completion violates state law prohibiting statues of government officials until they have been dead for half a century.
(source: Citizens Against Government Waste)

I particularly enjoyed this comment from the same source:

Byrd's statue is currently housed in the Capitol Rotunda, as shown in the picture, and it is said if you stand under the statue the senator's hand points directly at your pockets.

Here's a list of published placenames dedicated to Byrd (source: Wikipedia.org):

• Robert C. Byrd Academic and Technology Center at Marshall University, Huntington
• Robert C. Byrd Addition to the Lodge at Oglebay Park, Wheeling
• Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System part of the Appalachian Development Highway System
• Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center at Marshall University, Huntington
• Robert C. Byrd Bridge, between Huntington and Chesapeake, Ohio
• Robert C. Byrd Cancer Research Laboratory of West Virginia University, Morgantown
• Robert C. Byrd Clinical Addition to Veteran's Hospital, Huntington
• Robert C. Byrd Community Center, Pine Grove
• Robert C. Byrd Conference Center at Davis and Elkins College, Elkins
• Robert C. Byrd Drive, from Beckley to Sophia (Byrd's hometown)
• Robert C. Byrd Expressway, U.S. Highway 22, near Weirton
• Robert C. Byrd Federal Building & Courthouse, Beckley
• Robert C. Byrd Federal Building & Courthouse, Charleston
• Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, Green Bank
• Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center, Princeton
• Robert C. Byrd Health and Wellness Center of Bethany College, Bethany
• Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University, Morgantown
• Robert C. Byrd High School, Clarksburg
• Robert C. Byrd Hilltop Office Complex, Rocket Center
• (For Byrd's wife) Erma Ora Byrd Conference & Learning Center
• Robert C. Byrd Industrial Park, Moorefield
• Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing; Huntington, Charleston, Bridgeport & Rocket Center
• Robert C. Byrd Library & Robert C. Byrd Learning Resource Center at Mountain State University, Beckley
• Robert C. Byrd Locks & Dam, Gallipolis Ferry
• Robert C. Byrd Metals Fabrication Center, Rocket Center
• Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center, Bridgeport
• Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center at Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling
• Robert C. Byrd Rural Health Center at Marshall University, Huntington
• Robert C. Byrd Science and Technology Center at Shepherd University, Shepherdstown
• Robert C. Byrd Technology Center at Alderson-Broaddus College, Philippi
• Robert C. Byrd United Technical Center
• Robert C. Byrd Visitor Center at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry
• (For Byrd's wife) Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling

One wonders if we will not see, after a respectable period following the good Senator's departure from this Earth, a rush to remove some, many, or most of these placenames. Perhaps not. Or, perhaps once the United States economy collapses in upon itself and the overarching cause is eventually properly attributed to gross overspending by the scions of the federal government, a fate similar to the myriad statues of Lenin will befall those of Byrd. Perhaps we will one day even see the good Senator's statue in Freedom Park (-->).

Lest I be accused of partisanship, let me state that pork and narcissism is hardly limited to the political left. Byrd is only the most reprobate example. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has made that state (controlled by Republicans) by far the largest porker per capita. Check out the comments of Alaska Rep. Don Young - Republican - concerning a "bridge to nowhere" named for him:

Rep. Young had a much more curt response when asked by a Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reporter about redirecting the combined $450 million for the Gravina Island and Knik Arm (renamed Don Young’s Way) bridges to hurricane victims: “They can kiss my ear.” He then called such a request the “dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
(source: CAGW)

With all due respect (that would be less and less daily) Congressman, the dumbest thing I've ever heard is your statement and rash euphemism. I for one will be kissing no part of your person.

I see a bumper sticker from time to time which resonates when contemplating what to do about such brazen pork and narcissim: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Vote Libertarian"