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PrintFormer Republican N.C. Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86
Fri Jul 4, 2008 12:30 PM EDT
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RALEIGH — Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86.
"It's just incredible that he would die on July 4, the same day of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, and he certainly is a patriot in the mold of those great men," said former North Carolina GOP Rep. Bill Cobey, the chairman of The Jesse Helms Center in Wingate, N.C.
Helms died at 1:15 a.m, the center said. He died in Raleigh of natural causes, said former chief of staff Jimmy Broughton.
"He was very comfortable," Broughton said.
Funeral arrangements were pending, the Helms center said.
"America lost a great public servant and true patriot today," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said few senators could match Helms' reputation.
"Today we lost a Senator whose stature in Congress had few equals. Senator Jesse Helms was a leading voice and courageous champion for the many causes he believed in," McConnell said in a statement.
Helms, who first became known to North Carolina voters as a newspaper and television commentator, won election to the Senate in 1972 and decided not to run for a sixth term in 2002.
"Compromise, hell! ... If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?" Helms wrote in a 1959 editorial that foretold his political style.
As he aged, Helms was slowed by a variety of illnesses, including a bone disorder, prostate cancer and heart problems, and he made his way through the Capitol on a motorized scooter as his career neared an end. In April 2006, his family announced he had been moved into a convalescent center after being diagnosed with vascular dementia, in which repeated minor strokes damage the brain.
Helms' public appearances had dwindled as his health deteriorated. When his memoirs were published in August 2005, he appeared at a Raleigh book store to sign copies, but did not make a speech.
In an e-mail interview with The Associated Press at that time, Helms said he hoped what future generations learn about him "will be based on the truth and not the deliberate inaccuracies those who disagreed with me took such delight in repeating."
"My legacy will be up to others to describe," he added.
Helms served as chairman of the Agriculture Committee and Foreign Relations Committees over the years at times when the GOP held the Senate majority, using his posts to protect his state's tobacco growers and other farmers and place his stamp on foreign policy.
His opposition to Communism defined his foreign policy views. He took a dim view of many arms control treaties, opposed Fidel Castro at every turn, and supported the contras in Nicaragua as well as the right-wing government of El Salvador. He opposed the Panama Canal treaties that then-President Carter pushed through a reluctant Senate in 1977.
As Castro's fierce critic, Helms helped create legislation in 1996 to strengthen U.S. restrictions against the Caribbean island's communist government.
The Helms-Burton law bars the United States from normalizing relations with Cuba as long as Castro or his brother Raul — who has been president since February — are involved in government. That law also sought to pressure other nations not to do business with Cuba, a condition protested by Mexico and other third nations.
Early on, his habit of blocking nominations and legislation won him a nickname of "Senator No." He delighted in forcing roll-call votes that required Democrats to take politically difficult votes on federal funding for art he deemed pornographic, school busing, flag-burning and other cultural issues.
In 1993, when then-President Clinton sought confirmation for an openly homosexual assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Helms registered his disgust. "I'm not going to put a lesbian in a position like that," he said in a newspaper interview at the time. "If you want to call me a bigot, fine."
After Democrats killed the appointment of U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle, a former Helms aide, to a federal appeals court post in 1991, Helms blocked all of Clinton's judicial nominations from North Carolina for eight years.
Helms occasionally opted for compromise in later years in the Senate, working with Democrats on legislation to restructure the foreign policy bureaucracy and pay back debts to the United Nations, an organization be disdained for most of his career.
And he softened his views on AIDS after years of clashes with gay activists, advocating greater federal funding to fight the disease in Africa and elsewhere overseas.
But in his memoirs, Helms made clear that his opinions on other issues had hardly moderated since he left office. He likened abortion to the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
"I will never be silent about the death of those who cannot speak for themselves," he wrote in "Here's Where I Stand."
Helms never lost a race for the Senate, but he never won one by much, either, a reflection of his divisive political profile in his native state.
He knew it, too. "Well, there is no joy in Mudville tonight. The mighty ultraliberal establishment, and the liberal politicians and editors and commentators and columnists have struck out again," he said in 1990 after winning his fourth term.
He won the 1972 election after switching parties, and defeated then-Gov. Jim Hunt in an epic battle in 1984 in what was then the costliest Senate race on record.
He defeated black former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt in 1990 and 1996 in racially tinged campaigns. In the first race, a Helms commercial showed a white fist crumbling up a job application, these words underneath: "You needed that job ... but they had to give it to a minority."
"The tension that he creates, the fear he creates in people, is how he's won campaigns," Gantt said several years later.
Helms also played a role in national GOP politics — supporting Ronald Reagan in 1976 in a presidential primary challenge to then-President Ford. Reagan's candidacy was near collapse when it came time for the North Carolina primary. Helms was in charge of the effort, and Reagan won a startling upset that resurrected his challenge.
"It's not saying too much to say that had Senator Helms not put his weight and his political organization behind Ronald Reagan so that he was able to win North Carolina, there may have never been a Reagan presidency," Cobey said. "Most people feel like there would have never been a President Reagan had it not been for Jesse Helms."
During the 1990s, Helms clashed frequently with Clinton, whom he deemed unqualified to be commander in chief. Even some Republicans cringed when Helms said Clinton was so unpopular he would need a bodyguard on North Carolina military bases. Helms said he hadn't meant it as a threat.
Asked to gauge Clinton's performance overall, Helms said in 1995: "He's a nice guy. He's very pleasant. But ... (as) Ronald Reagan used to say about another politician, `Deep down, he's shallow.'"
Helms went out of his way to establish good relations with Madeleine Albright, Clinton's second secretary of state. But that didn't stop him from single-handedly blocking Clinton's appointment of William Weld — a Republican — as ambassador to Mexico.
Helms clashed with other Republicans over the years, including fellow Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 1987, after Democrats had won a Senate majority. Helms had promised in his 1984 campaign not to take the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee, but he invoked seniority over Lugar to claim the seat as the panel's ranking Republican.
He was unafraid of inconveniencing his fellow senators — sometimes all of them at once. "I did not come to Washington to win a popularity contest," he once said while holding the Senate in session with a filibuster that delayed the beginning of a Christmas break. And he once objected to a request by phoning in his dissent from home, where he was watching Senate proceedings on television.
Helms was born in Monroe, N.C., on Oct. 18, 1921. He attended Wake Forest College in 1941 but never graduated and was in the Navy during World War II.
In many ways, Helms' values were forged in the small town where his father was police chief.
"I shall always remember the shady streets, the quiet Sundays, the cotton wagons, the Fourth of July parades, the New Year's Eve firecrackers. I shall never forget the stream of school kids marching uptown to place flowers on the Courthouse Square monument on Confederate Memorial Day," Helms wrote in a newspaper column in 1956.
He took an active role in North Carolina politics early on, working to elect a segregationist candidate, Willis Smith, to the Senate in 1950. He worked as Smith's top staff aide for a time, then returned to Raleigh as executive director of the state bankers association.
Helms became a member of the Raleigh city council in 1957 and got his first public platform for espousing his conservative views when he became a television editorialist for WRAL in Raleigh in 1960. He also wrote a column that at one time was carried in 200 newspapers. Helms also was city editor at The Raleigh Times.
Helms and his wife, Dorothy, had two daughters and a son. They adopted the boy in 1962 after the child, 9 years old and suffering from cerebral palsy, said in a newspaper article that he wanted parents.
___
AP Special Writer David Espo contributed to this story from Washington.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
19 Votes- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
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- Regions: Panama , United States , Nicaragua , Mexico , El Salvador , Raleigh/Durham
 | Family, admirers lay former Sen. Helms to rest | Associated Press | Tue Jul 8 | 2 |
 | Jesse Helms: the history of a man who helped make racism "respectable" again in mainstream politics | Socialist Worker | Tue Jul 8 | 0 |
| Helms never changed on civil rights opposition | Associated Press | Sat Jul 5 | 9 |
| He Couldn't Find the Map of the World on a Globe | casadelogo.typepad.com | Sat Jul 5 | 0 |
 | Scratchpad: July 6 Sun. 2008 | greenpagan | Sun Jul 6 | 1 |
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3.7
{"commentId":2118048,"authorDomain":"firsty"}
a sad coincidence that he gets to share his obit date with jefferson and adams, who were both considerably more enlightened two hundred years ago.
RIP of course. fortunately for helms, God is probably much more forgiving.
{"commentId":2118048,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"firsty"}
- 10 votes
#1 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 12:52 PM EDT{"commentId":2118562,"authorDomain":"sugarhousefarm"}
Helms, definitely was no T. Jefferson or J. Adams. They are most likely rolling over in their graves to share this day.
{"commentId":2118562,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"sugarhousefarm"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2119008,"authorDomain":"dkaz"}
I've just read Woodward's column. I wasn't really into politics when Mr Helms was involved. I've never read anything about him until today. This column will be the only one I do read about him.
I disagree on a few things he believed in but I give him credit for sticking to his guns.
I'm glad he changed his attitude toward homosexuals. It just proves that no matter how old you are, you can change & you do change.
Taking in a boy "because he wanted parents" tells me the man had compassion in his heart. He was definitely headstrong.
A racist? I'm not feeling it. A bigot? Not feeling that one neither. But that's my opinion.
A real pisser? That one I'm getting vibes on.
But like he said, "My legacy will be up to others to describe."
Senator Jesse Helms, may you rest in peace and my condolences to the Helms family.
{"commentId":2119008,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"dkaz"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2119518,"authorDomain":"npotvin"}
What change? Saying that a change of attitude towards AIDS is equivalent to a change of attitudes on homosexuality is the type of statement that just perpetuates the idea that AIDS is somehow a "gay" affliction. I understand those that want to show him the respect that he never bothered to show anybody else in his passing, but let us not forget that Helms remained a bigot and narcissistic ignoramous until the very end.
And as I did when Strom Thurmond passed, I say good riddance. The world, and especially our power structures, are saturated enough with such hate filled gentlemen, men who regularly spewed their vileness on any common Friday afternoon, that one less, while sorrowful to his loved ones, is a blessing for the rest of the world. As a previous poster said, lucky for him the spiritual being he will be in contact with him is a far more forgiving, understanding presence than himself.
{"commentId":2119518,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"npotvin"}
{"commentId":2119525,"authorDomain":"npotvin"}
What change? Saying that a change of attitude towards AIDS is equivalent to a change of attitudes on homosexuality is the type of statement that just perpetuates the idea that AIDS is somehow a "gay" affliction. I understand those that want to show him the respect in his passing that he never bothered to show anybody else, but let us not forget that Helms remained a multi-faceted bigot and narcissistic ignoramous until the very end.
And as I did when Strom Thurmond passed, I say good riddance. The world, and especially our power structures, are saturated enough with such hate filled gentlemen, men who regularly spew their vileness on any common Friday afternoon, that one less individual of this variety, while sorrowful to his loved ones, is a blessing for the rest of the world. As a previous poster said, lucky for him the spiritual being he will be in contact with him is a far more forgiving, understanding presence than himself.
{"commentId":2119525,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"npotvin"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2120990,"authorDomain":"dkaz"}
Orpheus,
I'm not going to dignify your comment with another.
The hateful words you chose to express your opinion tells me I'm dealing with ignorance.
You stated your opinion and I respect you for it. Just like I would expect you to be courteous enough to respect mine.
{"commentId":2120990,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"dkaz"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2123945,"authorDomain":"npotvin"}
It is not "hateful" to acknowledge the battle that wages between those who look to quell bigotry and prejudice from our country and those who offer such ridiculous euphemisms as "sticking to his guns" as a means of justifying the bigot himself.
And I loved that you used the word "ignorance". First off, calling that which you don't understand "ignorance" without stating a case or argument is nothing more than a cop-out. Second, I find it rather amusing that you went from calling me ignorant to saying that you respect me for stating my opinion within one sentence. Third, I find it even more amusing that you would call me ignorant even as you so ardently defend a man whom you "never read anything about...until today".
Instead of deciding whether you want to personally insult or validate me, why not from a counter-argument that details how, exactly, a man who "sticks to his guns" about all those whom he hates and is prejudiced against is one whom should be honored in his passing?
{"commentId":2123945,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"npotvin"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":2126076,"authorDomain":"dkaz"}
Orpheus,
I was going to just blow you off like I do so many disrespectful fools on the Vine, but then I thought........ah.......what the hell.
First off, why are you following me. Why are you after me. There's all kinds of people on this seed who have pretty much the same opinion I do. I don't see you going after them. Whats the matter? Don't you like my Avatar? Too bad. Don't you care for any of my recommendations? Again, too bad. I pulled you up and noticed there's no info, no bio, no nothing on you. And you're still looking like an alien stuck in a green box.
Now, I'm going to comment on your last input. And I hope you read it & read it good.
Comment # 1.2
I stated I didn't know that much about Mr. Helms but I'll credit him for sticking to his guns. Which means, sticking to his beliefs. Just like you. You're sticking to your beliefs.
He wasn't a fan of gays. And not because they were gay, but because of the acts that gays do. Do you know the difference? I think not. He ended up having one of the largest voices in getting funding for the HIV virus. Does that sound like a man who "hated" gays? If he hated them so much as people, why would he even attempt to help them? That's where your confusion comes in.
Comment# 1.4
You stated he bothered to show no one any respect. How many 9 year old kids with cerebral palsy have you adopted because they just wanted a home? He had his own children. He didn't need to take another one in. But he did.
You use words like bigot, ignoramus, vileness. If that isn't spewing hatred, then I guess I don't know what hatred is. It's sounding to me as though you're describing a man who you yourself have become.
Comment # 1.6
I didn't log into this cite to rip someone apart who just passed away. I logged in to make a comment, an opinion and leave. Unlike you who has such hate in your being you're ready to attack the first person you don't agree with.
Go back and read my original comment. You won't find one word of my honoring his passing. I have respect for anyone who dies regardless of who they are, if they've done at the least one thing, while they were alive on this earth to help anyone. What have you done?
Counter-argue with you? Over what? Because you didn't like my comment? What are you, a snotty nosed child.
My advice to you, Orifice is to go find someone else in this seed to take you on. You're too much of a light weight for me...........And I'm sticking to my guns on that one!
{"commentId":2126076,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"dkaz"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2133670,"authorDomain":"ffeineandsugar"}
Bravo, dkaz! Well done!!
{"commentId":2133670,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"ffeineandsugar"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2141229,"authorDomain":"dkaz"}
ffeineandsugar,
Thank you for your vote of confidence.
Whew! I don't know where all that came from, but once I was though, I had to take a shower & fix myself a stiff drink. And thank God for "check spelling" because my fingers wouldn't stop.
I have no problem with debating an issue. But to argue? No. If I want to argue, I'll call a member of my family.
{"commentId":2141229,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"dkaz"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2118116,"authorDomain":"craig19"}
God is probably much more forgiving.
For what?
{"commentId":2118116,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"craig19"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 1:04 PM EDT{"commentId":2118260,"authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
I don't want to dis a man who just died.
wiki jesse.. look at he controversy section. Lets just say I'm happy to see his kinds of ideas die out, but hate to see people die for it to happen. and that's All I'll say on that subject.
I disagreed with the man a lot, especially when he opened his mouth,(but not always) but he was a pivotal figure in american politics. My sympathies to the family of Jesse Homes. Senator No.
{"commentId":2118260,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
- 13 votes
{"commentId":2118446,"authorDomain":"jaybutler"}
Well said, Joules.
{"commentId":2118446,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"jaybutler"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2118796,"authorDomain":"keggerlord-1"}
It's nice to see that the more eloquent and enlightened posters are providing their input on this thread. The other thread is the element of the 'vine that makes me sometimes question why I post here.
{"commentId":2118796,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"keggerlord-1"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":2118899,"authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
LOL the beauty of wikipedia.. they needed to lock down this page..
lets just say.. it's changing dramatically and a lot..
the contravercy section was more than one screen when I went there and now it is just 3 paragraphs.. it's a bit toned down now.
{"commentId":2118899,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":2118224,"authorDomain":"wharrison55"}
Of all the controversial remarks Jesse Helms made over a long career in the public spotlight I would guess the most famous has to be the one he made about Bill Clinton which, of course, was taken out of all context by the press:
When Senator Jesse Helms talked with a reporter from the Raleigh News and Observer and mentioned Bill Clinton's unpopularity on military bases in the state, he illustrated his point with an anecdote about a Southern sheriff who had just been defeated in an election. 'He had this big fella with him, about 6 foot 7and 270 pounds," said Helms. 'Somebody asked, 'Who's that?' The sheriff answered. Any body who can't get more votes than I did better have a bodyguard.' "Helms then added: 'Mr. Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He better have a bodyguard." The News and Observer ran just the Clinton reference without the entire joke that preceded it, and the Associated Press picked up the story. Soon the media were reporting that the Secret Service was investigating Helms' comments, and the editorial page of the New York Times called for Helms to step aside as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Despite his aversion to gay rights he became a staunch advocate and leading voice in the Senate in fighting HIV in Africa as witnessed by his late-life friendship with Bono.
{"commentId":2118224,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"wharrison55"}
- 4 votes
#3 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 1:27 PM EDT{"commentId":2118284,"authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
well I wasn't going to.. but now I must corect you.. his main contravercies was he was a huge racists.
He kept going on about balcks and who they were all communists and other nonscence.
he was an old school souther startegy republicain, who really hated everythign to do with blacks.
yeah I wouldn't take this time to air his dirty landry in an article about his death, but I also wotn sit back while someoen claims he only contravercial thing he has done was threaten clinton.
yep and he blamed gays for aids
and
"White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races." Another ad featured photographs Helms himself had doctored to illustrate the allegation that Graham's wife had danced with a black man. (FAIR 9/1/01, The News and Observer 8/26/01)
sound famular?? remmebr the ad of the guy in virginia dancing with a white woman??
same ole southern strategy.. same thing happening today in 2008 and not 1963.
amazing 40 years gos by and the gop hasn't grown up a day.
er the wiki
{"commentId":2118284,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":2118318,"authorDomain":"jazzman646"}
Hey Joules,
I recommend you punch the Check Spelling button next time. Only takes a minute or two to get er done.
{"commentId":2118318,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"jazzman646"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2118356,"authorDomain":"spiffie"}
Despite his aversion to gay rights
Which is why Iʼm just not going to say anything (since I have nothing nice to say). ;-)
{"commentId":2118356,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"spiffie"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2118812,"authorDomain":"thevoiceofneocon"}
White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories?
That was over 58 years ago.... Different times, Different Message.... Wrong as it is..
All that should be said to this story is Rest in peace sir..
{"commentId":2118812,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"thevoiceofneocon"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2118840,"authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
your right, I should have held my tongue as I had planned.
I will say that while I didn't like the man's attitudes towards those different. He made for an entertaining senate and frankly I like senators that say No a lot and helmes said no every chance he could. Which is an awesome quality for a congressman.
There is a new senator NO.. we call him ron paul.
growing up int he south you are going to run into bigots that actually do good things from time to time.. cant let their bigotry define them.
{"commentId":2118840,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":2119550,"authorDomain":"npotvin"}
We can't let their bigotry define them? Does that mean you do not allow Martin Luther King, Jr.'s or Gandhi's humanitarianism to define them?
That's nonsense. We are defined by many things, but our values and ethics are one of the strongest indicators that we have as to who we are as people, as humans. They are the cornerstone upon which our legacy in this world is built upon.
Helms was defined by little else other than that which he hated, just as Bush will be defined by the tens of thousands of people he is responsible for killing for taking month long vacations and pursuing politically ideological pipe dreams. No matter what, there is no escaping the legacy that they carved out for themselves. Let them settle in what they created.
{"commentId":2119550,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"npotvin"}
{"commentId":2118311,"authorDomain":"ffeineandsugar"}
I think I'm going to let the man speak for himself. From the above article:
Helms said he hoped what future generations learn about him "will be based on the truth and not the deliberate inaccuracies those who disagreed with me took such delight in repeating."
And
"I shall always remember the shady streets, the quiet Sundays, the cotton wagons, the Fourth of July parades, the New Year's Eve firecrackers. I shall never forget the stream of school kids marching uptown to place flowers on the Courthouse Square monument on Confederate Memorial Day,"
And of course,
"You needed that job ... but they had to give it to a minority."
Enough said. Rest, Jesse. Rest.
{"commentId":2118311,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"ffeineandsugar"}
- 2 votes
#4 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 1:41 PM EDT{"commentId":2118415,"authorDomain":"sonnetizer"}
This is sorta like seeing your bosses picture on the side of a milk carton...
{"commentId":2118415,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"sonnetizer"}
- 2 votes
#5 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 1:55 PM EDT{"commentId":2118422,"authorDomain":"beamerab3"}
Jesse Helms was an opponent of anyone that was different. He devoted much of his energy to curtailing the civil rights of women, african americans, hispanics, native americans, and homosexuals. He was stalwart in blocking any legislation that was put forward that could help a disenfranchised minority toward self-empowerment.
He ran successful campaigns by manipulating people's ignorance and xenophobia; and, he was a "role model" that blazed the path for other Republicans to run successful fear-based campaigns as well.
He was an opponent of education, and he manipulated people's ignorance as well as surgeons wield a scalpel.
Rural North Carolinians were his voting demographic, which should tell people about the real racial tensions that exist -- even still -- in this country. He repeatedly insisted to rural caucasian North Carolinians that african americans were taking "their" jobs. He also scared this same demographic into thinking that terrible things would happen to their children if they were forced to go to schools with minority children.
At one time, I thought I felt hatred towards Mr. Helms. I learned later in life that it was not hatred that I felt.
It was reactionary fear: Mr. Helms' ideas, beliefs, and policies made me fearful, due only to my existence. As a child, I felt shame for being african american because of the picture he painted of us to his demographic.
I was nothing more than a second-class citizen (at best) for no other reason than being african american. And, Mr. Helms did his best to keep those feelings of intolerance in the forefront of his constituents' and his supporters' minds.
This was a shame because I feared to go to rural areas of North Carolina, which have some of the most beautiful scenic vistas in America.
I feel no satisfaction or happiness in his death. As I Christian, however, it is only relief I feel...relief that he will no longer be able to inject his disdain for "otherness" into legislature. Relief that he will no longer be able to make children feel shame for being different. And, as a Christian, I hope that I will be able to forgive myself for not being able to mourn his memory.
I understand that losing someone is always difficult, and for those of you who loved, respected, and admired Senatory Jesse Helms, you do have my heart-felt condolensces.
{"commentId":2118422,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"beamerab3"}
- 4 votes
#6 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 1:56 PM EDT{"commentId":2118561,"authorDomain":"pdw174"}
Brilliantly written. And I understand well what you're saying.
Also, in reply to a note further above about Senator No finally coming to grips with AIDS in Africa, I'm as impressed with that as I am with the twig's feelings about it: Good...but what about the folks with AIDS in your own country? Why are you freezing funds and, in too many cases, decreasing funds for AIDS research and help here? I don't downplay the importance of fighting AIDS anywhere, but why at the expense of your own country?
{"commentId":2118561,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"pdw174"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":2119755,"authorDomain":"firsty"}
very, very well said.
{"commentId":2119755,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"firsty"}
{"commentId":2119756,"authorDomain":"firsty"}
very, very well said.
{"commentId":2119756,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"firsty"}
{"commentId":2120002,"authorDomain":"AalafAlot"}
Well Said except for the last part! I really felt sad for his grand children growing up with human stain on humanity.
{"commentId":2120002,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"AalafAlot"}
{"commentId":2118901,"authorDomain":"wacourson"}
The late Senator Helms' racist, homophobic, xenophobic warmongering did nothing to serve the interest of America or its people, any more than the political ideas and actions of the Third Reich served Germany.
May he be among the very last of his kind to darken the corridors of power in this country.
{"commentId":2118901,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"wacourson"}
- 3 votes
#7 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 3:24 PM EDT{"commentId":2118939,"authorDomain":"sti"}
I for one will say good riddance you racist, bigot bastard. May you rot in hell.
I delight at the thought that these Talibanicans are dying faster than graves can be dug for them!
A better thought, leave his rotting carcass out for the vultures to feed on, if it doesn't sicken them too.
Just remember, hind sight is 20-20. He was a piece of crap when he was alive, nothing has changed now that he's dead!
For those of you that share his views, why would you call him a patriot? He didn't give a hoot about his fellow Americans save the ones who agreed with him. That's a good thing if you're a racist or a bigot.
He SUPPORTED and CAMPAIGNED FOR segragationists!
Keep supporting those views and perhaps your dirt nap isn't far off either...
{"commentId":2118939,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"sti"}
- 2 votes
#8 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 3:32 PM EDT{"commentId":2118969,"authorDomain":"starlighter2002"}
Jesse was the last American who represented the "moral majority". While there were somethings that drove me nuts about him, he certainly stood up for the average American who just works and pays his or her taxes. The decent person who hurts no one, but is hurt by an ever changing liberal landscape. He will be missed for sure, and no one has the guts these days in Washington to follow where that leader has tread. As I read the other's comments, I see where they are saying he was less than that. If none of us didn't have sex with someone we didn't know, or whom had been tested for an illness before hand, HIV and AIDs would not exist in this country. It was the behavior, NOT the person Jesse hated. You may have the "right to have sex with any one you want" to be sure, whether male or female or both, as long as they are consenting adults, but you also have the right to get a serious disease too. Let's not get confused about this. AIDS, and HIV are in all of our societies, and the issue should be to look for a cure. Take out innocent blood contact, (nurses, doctors, blood transfusions, etc) and you are in control of yourself aren't you? I look at this the same way I do drunk drivers. If they had not been drunk, they would not have killed anyone. But we still prosecute them for injury and death right? Even when they are confirmed as having the "illness" of alcoholism. It's across both genders, from the gay male, to the straight male "looking for love in all the wrong places" to the straight female who sells herself to strangers who may be infected. The behavior must stop, and the illness incidents will go down. Any way, I am not a "homo-phobe" I am a realist who knows that you don't play with fire. You could get burnt.
{"commentId":2118969,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"starlighter2002"}
- 2 votes
#9 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 3:40 PM EDT{"commentId":2119360,"authorDomain":"sonnetizer"}
Please tell me this is a joke. Jesse perhaps "stood up for" the average WHITE conservative American who thought s/he was entitled to whatever came her/his way due to the privileges of race and the repugnant "religion" that justified that world-view.
It was the behavior, NOT the person Jesse hated.
Look at his record as a segregationist and please tell how the accidents of birth can be construed as "behaviors." Or his fear-mongering along with the race-baiting, and playing to the lowest common denominators and easy choices of his electorate.
Your take on HIV/AIDS is blame-the-victim bigotry. Matthew 5:43-48
{"commentId":2119360,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"sonnetizer"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2120016,"authorDomain":"AalafAlot"}
Are you Loony? There is nothing moral or ethical about Helms.
{"commentId":2120016,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"AalafAlot"}
{"commentId":2119179,"authorDomain":"craig19"}
It's nice to see that the more eloquent and enlightened posters are providing their input on this thread. The other thread is the element of the 'vine that makes me sometimes question why I post here.
Agree. Those on the left can be frighteningly hateful and heartless at times.
{"commentId":2119179,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"craig19"}
- 3 votes
#10 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 4:27 PM EDT{"commentId":2119564,"authorDomain":"npotvin"}
It is not heartless to feel comfort knowing that one of the leading bigots over the past half-century has ceased to be an influence on his mindless minions. If anything, it is the opposite of heartless. It is hope.
{"commentId":2119564,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"npotvin"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":2119348,"authorDomain":"created"}
Sounds like Jesse Helms believed in some things, and he wouldn't compromise on those things for the sake of popularity in the Senate. He had his faults, and maybe he did a few things out of spite or just to make someone mad, but what I get out of the article is that this was a man who stuck to his guns for what he thought was best.
Sure, he was old school in many senses. I think many Senators of his era can be tarnished along racial and gender lines, from both sides of the aisle. And he played hard ball politics.
But all being said, I think we could use a few more senators of Jesse Helms' temperament.
{"commentId":2119348,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"created"}
- 3 votes
#11 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 5:00 PM EDT{"commentId":2123547,"authorDomain":"dkaz"}
created,
Well, finally! Someone who agrees with me. I said almost the same thing in comment 1.2 and got slammed. The man stuck to his guns. He didn't flip flop all over the place.
Now I know what the minority feels like.
{"commentId":2123547,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"dkaz"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2119402,"authorDomain":"ezeques"}
Good start for the weekend.
One less racist, dogmatic bigot.
{"commentId":2119402,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"ezeques"}
- 5 votes
#12 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 5:10 PM EDT{"commentId":2119411,"authorDomain":"IndependentVoter"}
Helms died..not sheets Byrd.
{"commentId":2119411,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"IndependentVoter"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":2119935,"authorDomain":"AalafAlot"}
Satan must be happy! Another Ultra Right Wing Republican Conservative Fake Christians bites the Dust!
Goodbye Racist, Redneck, Biggot, and waste of human skin.
{"commentId":2119935,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"AalafAlot"}
- 1 vote
#13 - Fri Jul 4, 2008 7:25 PM EDT{"commentId":2124014,"authorDomain":"pegritz"}
Good riddance.
{"commentId":2124014,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"pegritz"}
- 2 votes
#14 - Sat Jul 5, 2008 4:35 PM EDT{"commentId":2125373,"authorDomain":"get8329"}
Mother taught me to speak good of the dead. Jesse Helms is dead......good!
{"commentId":2125373,"threadId":"306147","contentId":"1638866","authorDomain":"get8329"}
- 1 vote
#15 - Sat Jul 5, 2008 10:24 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"306147","isPrivate":false}
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