Byrd Declares Himself Senator for Life

Spry and fleet of foot at a deceptively young 89, West Virginia Senator and former Klansman Robert C. Byrd plans on sticking it out until his corpse is dragged off the Senate floor.

His hands shaking and voice muffled by a cough, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), 89, defiantly declared today that he would continue to serve in the chamber indefinitely, possibly until his death, despite suffering from a tremor common to the elderly.

"I will continue to do this work until this old body just gives out and drops," he declared in a prepared floor speech. "Don't expect that to be any time soon."

There used to be something known as a dignfied retirement.