what joey can't see is that byrd wasn't frozen in his 1964 views unlike a lot of politician's. he renounced them while noting that the shame of those views would never leave him. he became a reliable vote in favor of civil rights legislation from 1967 onwards.
the george wallace reference is telling. wallace was an unrepentant racist as a politician. however, he also eventually renounced his racist past. the last years of his life he spent sunday's in black southern churches talking about his past and asking for forgiveness. the conservative movements dreaded "apology tour".
conservatives don't like change and apparently from the comments here, also don't believe sincere change is possible.
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