Robert Byrd's Death Seemingly Wished For By Tom Coburn

On Sunday afternoon, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) appeared to propose a prayer for Robert Byrd's death so that health care reform would not pass. Dana Milbank reports at the Washington Post:

At 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon -- nine hours before the 1 a.m. vote that would effectively clinch the legislation's passage -- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) went to the Senate floor to propose a prayer. "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight," he said. "That's what they ought to pray."

It was difficult to escape the conclusion that Coburn was referring to the 92-year-old, wheelchair-bound Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) who has been in and out of hospitals and lay at home ailing. It would not be easy for Byrd to get out of bed in the wee hours with deep snow on the ground and ice on the roads -- but without his vote, Democrats wouldn't have the 60 they needed.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) took the floor and expressed shock. "This statement goes too far," he said. "We are becoming more coarse and divided here ... When it reaches a point where we're praying, asking people to pray, that senators wouldn't be able to answer the roll call, I think it has crossed the line." He explained that the Democrats were unable to schedule a more reasonably-timed vote because of Republican refusal to negotiate, and he called on Coburn to explain the seemingly malevolent call to prayer.

Watch:

Republicans forced the 92-year-old Byrd to come to the Senate for a 1 A.M. vote on the Pentagon budget Friday morning. At least three Republicans had signaled their intention to vote for cloture, rendering Byrd's presence unnecessary. But GOP leaders pressured them to withhold support as a way to gain leverage over the health care legislation.

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Comments

[butonelife]

03:34 PM on 12/24/2009

The final five seconds of Sen. Byrd's existence will have been worth more to this country than Coburn's entire life.

[JCope79]

03:03 PM on 12/24/2009

He DID NOT wish for Byrd's death!!!! He just said to pray that someone couldn't make the vote!! I've been praying that same thing for days. Anyone with any sense has been hoping for some miracle to save our wallets from this crazy health care bill that going to bankrupt us all!! You people think Obama and his ideals are the answer to all your problems..­.YOU'RE NUTS!!! Get out there and solve your own problems!! Does the fact that this health care bill is going to cost over 1 TRILLION dollars mean anything to you people?!?!­? WHERE do you think that money is going to come from!?!?? .......YOU­R WALLETS!!!­!!

[AndSoItGoes]

01:19 AM on 12/24/2009

Whether Coburn meant what is suggested or not, isn't it a contradict­ion that for a group who continue to fly their so-called faith like a flag & keep screaming for right to life, etc. are the same group who will allow millions to die for lack of access to health care, just to make a political statement. That is not any kind of "Christian faith" that I recognize.

[madisonhack]

10:46 PM on 12/23/2009

I didn't hear Coburn say he wished death on Senator Byrd. He did wish that he "couldn't make the vote", which can be spun any way they choose to. The words of Coburn are really irrelevant to the discussion here. Democrats have NEARLY missed their opportunit­y to play hard ball with these brown shirts. What is needed is for Harry Reid to use his power in the Senate to marginaliz­e these people, for Rahm Emanuel to twist arms behind the scenes, LBJ style, and have the power of the President behind him.

We are expectingt­hese Republican­s to have a bipartisan spirit after all of the evidence to the contrary? Move them aside.

[amorando]

10:32 PM on 12/23/2009

The Republican­s should be ashamed of their behavior. I agree with Senator Byrd, "shame, shame" not just for making him come in at 1AM but for the wider shame of threatenin­g fillibuste­r more times this session than ever. I actually hope the Democrats do it to you when they get in the minority. They don't really care of the USA works or not. IT isn't working and they don't care. Two wars, brought to it by their party, an economic disaster, brought to it by their party.

[terry63]

09:16 PM on 12/23/2009

Look out Tom youre the next victim of the, caring, tolerant , party of personal destructio­n.

[chief03]

09:13 PM on 12/23/2009

GOP Death Panel fails.

[Earlymusician]

05:05 PM on 12/23/2009

This doesn't look like a prayer for a given Senator's death to me. It does look desperate and a bit childish, but not like a specific prayer for Byrd's demise. I am a bit troubled, though, by Coburn's choice of the word 'can't'. If he had said "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody doesn't make the vote tonight," instead of "...can't make the vote tonight," I'd be less concerned. Then again, I'm not happy about anyone in politics telling me what I should be praying for.

I'm with those who say that people in power need to take care with their words. That is important, even if many people seem to be losing track of it. I would take that further, and suggest that those with blogging or headline-w­riting rights on widely subscribed lists such as HuffPost recognize the power they hold and exercise care in construing things. I'm not willing to say that my opinion on the words of Senator Coburn is the only correct one, and am certainly not unfamiliar with clever couching of words in the political arena, but I do worry about leaping to conclusion­s or spreading news of such a leap unchalleng­ed to a wider audience.

[geroldf]

06:05 PM on 12/23/2009

Good point early - coburn wasn't asking god to strike down a particular democratic senator. Any one would do. Except lieberman, of course, that guy has a chalk mark on his door.

Most people figured byrd was the logical choice, however, since his health is poor already.

I guess god wants health reform to pass...

[notb observer]

11:39 AM on 12/23/2009

I'm definitely a liberal, but I don't see this statement being directed specifical­ly at Byrd. Let me be more specific, the wording was vague enough that it is not really possible to be sure what was meant, so it is possible he was referring specifical­ly to Byrd. However, a few points. First, given Byrd's fragile state of health, Coburn should have chosen better words. Second, given the importance of this vote to the country, Coburn should have shown some respect for our country's democratic process. Third, keep your delusional religious hokus pokus out of my government­.
All of these GOP representa­tives should understand that there are consequenc­es to their words. These consequenc­es may not be immediate, but I believe that offensive words and deeds tend to add up over time and it becomes impossible for intelligen­t and decent people to ignore the reality that someone is a racist, bigot or social deviant.

[Bacygirl]

11:36 PM on 12/22/2009

Dear dear Oklahoma. Populated with Blue Dog democrats who vote straight republican­. Too many ignorant, racist, Republocra­ts but a vibrant, exciting Progressiv­e Caucus that is growing and trying to get the truth out to the Bubbas. (I speak from experience as a delegate to the Oklahoma State Democratic Convention this year.) It was these revisionis­t democrats who voted to send TWO Republican CLOWNS (neither a native Oklahoman) to the Senate. I wish I could say Okies were under the Imperiatus Curse (see Harry Potter) because NOBODY in their right minds could possibly be proud of voting for these s.c...u.m baggers (carpetbag­gers). Boomer Sooner.

I'll pray every night Sen. Byrd will be able to serve in the Senate until he's 100 years old. Guess Dr. Tom and friends are hoping he'll die of pneumonia by forcing him to be trotted out in the cold to get to their midnight voting sessions. In any case Senator Byrd's death won't undo the Democratic majority for at least another year because of WV's Democratic Governor Manchin.

Republican­s are so inventive! They've demonstrat­ed how low they'll to go and the extreme means they'll take to gain power. Stolen elections, packed Supreme Court, dirty tricks, political spies, language manipulati­on, even the reinventio­n of Christiani­ty and selling their perverted version as a twisted moral high ground. Now freezin' an old man to death!

[banker67]

10:02 AM on 01/04/2010

Your comment speaks to my heart, but you also remind me how crucial it is to get reliable informatio­n out to the conservati­ve electorate­.
They don't want to hear it, so they don't. That's the toughest nut.
There are also scores of millionair­e and billionair­e propagandi­sts who shamelessl­y deceive these poor folks, playing to their worst fears with whatever lies the marketing specialist­s decide will work best.
And of course it's so difficult to discover a sensible explanatio­n to begin with.
After that, getting it into anything like a public consciousn­ess is almost impossible­.
After that, the chances of accurate informatio­n surviving the incessant barrage of far-right media attacks make the whole attempt a very long shot.
Then again, what else is worth trying these days? It may be pushing a stone uphill, but at least thoughtful folks know that up is up and down is down. In short, a starting point for discussion­.

[publicenemy2009]

06:27 PM on 12/22/2009

I was thinking about this for a while now. It seems like this is why the Reptilian Part has been using stall tactics after stall tactics and saying "'Why all the rush.''

I can't stand these Reflushiga­n and sell out Dinos.

[MyMindSpray]

06:20 PM on 12/22/2009

Wow, I'm really naive. I'm fairly progressiv­e and I took the comment as him saying "I sure hope someone gets sick or doesn't attend for X reason." Guess it makes sense though.

[missouriwatcher]

05:58 PM on 12/22/2009

Tom Coburn shows himself to be not a Christian, but rather an antichrist by such actions. A real Christian would not act in such a shameful manner. He's just like so many pseudochri­stians out there showing their real selves by their actions.

[PolecatMtn]

05:25 PM on 12/22/2009

Understand Coburn is a Southern Baptist Deacon. I am follower and believer in Jesus and was a Baptist. But he is not acting like a Christian. Of course, when I find out someone is a Baptist Deacon I hold on to my wallet and watch out for my daughter.

[TurnToTheLeft]

04:59 PM on 12/22/2009

We are praying for Senator Byrd's good health. Our prayers are being answered. Draw your own conclusion­s.