Barbaric AND Ironic

It was surreal to hear what Senator Robert Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klansman, had to say about Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, an African American, who's been charged with dog fighting: (link)

"Barbaric," Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., shouted four times in a Senate chamber that was mostly empty except for two dozen somewhat startled tourists.

"Let that word resound from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across this broad land," he thundered, raising his right hand. "May God help those poor souls who would be so cruel. Barbaric! Hear me!"
...
"I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt," he said.

"One is left wondering," he said. "Who are the real animals: the creatures inside or outside the ring?"

I'm surprised Byrd didn't call for a good old-fashioned hangin'.