The Dems' Klan Card

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi found herself on the defensive Thursday morning over the decision by Senate Democrats to put former Ku Klux Klansman Sen. Robert Byrd in charge of efforts to derail the confirmation of Secretary of State-nominee Condoleezza Rice.

"I don't think that whatever Senator Byrd is doing has anything to do with his sad past," Pelosi told WWRL radio hosts Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter.

Instead, said the San Francisco Democrat, the one-time Grand Kleagel was acting out of concern that the advise-and-consent role of the Senate in presidential appointments was being overlooked.

In a move that was seen by many as an insult to the first black woman ever appointed secretary of state, Sen. Byrd announced his decision to hold up her confirmation late Wednesday, saying it needed more debate before the full Senate. Front Page Mag