Sen. Byrd with Russert

[phantom power]

The whole transcript is great, but here's a sample:

MR. RUSSERT: Why would you say our commander in chief is a dangerous leader?

SEN. BYRD: He doesn't like to answer questions. He doesn't like to build a consensus. He doesn't like consultation. He is a man who's governed by his instincts, he says. That's fine. I don't believe, however, that we should have a national leader who is governed by his instincts.

MR. RUSSERT: In the midst of the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, what message do you think it sends to the world when someone like you says that President Bush is dangerous, reckless and arrogant?

SEN. BYRD: I hope that the world will listen. This book constitutes a wake-up call, a wake-up call not only to our own people but to the world.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5458209

I'm surprised that this never occurred to me before, but there's a word for organisms that are "governed by instinct": we call them "animals".

[Hoping4Change]

1. I too saw the interview and urge everyone to watch the repeat.

Senator Byrd was on fire. It says alot that he carries the Constitution with him. I wonder how many other interviews he'll get?

btw I love your observation about what "organisms that are "governed by instinct" are called".

[AlinPA]

2. I saw it. He was solemn and very, very believable. Known for

reaching into his coat for a copy of the Constitution, he did just that and flat-out indicated that Bush* was a threat to it. He said "John Kerry believes in the Constitution"

[phantom power]

3. Byrd never gets led astray by bogus GOP talking points

One thing that you can see in this interview is that when Russert tried to deploy the usual GOP tactics, like "what message does it send to the world...?", it doesn't even slow Byrd down.

[ladjf]

4. Byrd is a good American.

We need some young versions of him.

Some feel that his age allows him to be more cavalier.

We also need an honorable Republican who is on the inside, knows what is going on the Bush administration, has the provable "goods" and who would be brave enough to lay it all on the line for America.

Surely there is one person out there who meets those qualifications.

The Michael Moore movie was largely anecdotal gossip. We need hard proof, something that can't possibly be "spun" away by the media.

It's there somewhere.

[dand]

5. Why is this palsied old man the only one speaking out?

Kerry and Edwards should be emphasizing the danger the country is in from this idiot in the White House. The Congresswoman from Florida had her words stricken from the Congressional record when she had the courage to call the 2000 election a coup d'etat, our Representatives should have gone ballistic. Democrats are such wimps.

[hlthe2b]

6. re: "word for organisms that are "governed by instinct": we call them

animals."

Actually as a decades long keen observer of animal behavior (and avid student of the work of such noted animal behaviorists as Jane Goodall, Diane Fosse, Joanne Simerson and others), we are increasingly learning that instinctual response reflects only a minority of behaviors in nearly all species, especially in domesticated animals--including dogs and cats and of course higher primates. Even carnivorous animals (e.g., big cats) a single generation from the wild, are able to modify their ingrained wild instinctive behaviors with training. In short, most animals can "learn" and modify their behavior based on "learning." That Bush CAN NOT or WILL NOT, not only underscores his inferiority to most "human animals," but most other animal species as well.

Let's call a spade a spade. Willful ignorance may well be a purely human trait and one that I believe truly defines Bush. Given that willful ignorance is unlikely to improve chances of survival from an evolutionary point of view, it is not surprising that other animal species are unlikely to manifest this trait. Unlikely to improve chances of survival.... hmmmm, now that should be thought provoking.....!

[phantom power]

7. I agree, animals learn more behavior than previously assumed

I almost didn't print the comment, but I couldn't resist...

[myopic4141]

8. An instinct in animals that is overlooked

Most animals on this planet do not kill their own and kill others only for food. We are among those who kill our own and the only one that I know of that kills for sport. It is a distinction between us an other animals that should not be overlooked under an accusation of governing by instinct for such governance is far worse when done by man.