"...and was then referred to the Rules Committee, whose chairman, Howard W. Smith, a Democrat from Virginia, indicated his intention to keep the bill bottled up indefinitely."

Yes, and from that scism, Richard Nixon's opportunistic Southern Strategy was born. The realignment became a fundamental element of the GOP's dominance of Presidential politics for 40 years. The GOP's success had been achieved by leveraging racial division... but it's all over now...

Gotta go... Got a gig in LouAVul ... Ciao, y'all!!