The problem

Today the only known former member of the Klan to hold a federal office in the United States is Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who says he "deeply regrets" joining the Klan over half a century ago, when he was about 24 years old.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan

His crime is not being a klansman. his crime is being swept along with the current. His crime is standing for nothing. His crime is being a racist in a racist society and an anti-racist in an anti-racist society. His crime is being putty.