Former five-term Republican U.S. Senator Jesse Helms has died at 86.

Helms was born in Monroe, NC where his father, called "Big Jesse," served as chief of police. Jesse and Dot Helms are the parents of three children: Jane, Nancy of Raleigh, and Charles Helms of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They have seven grandchildren.

Helms never obtained a university degree. He attended Wingate Junior College (now Wingate University) and Wake Forest University but did not graduate. He held honorary degrees from some universities including Bob Jones University, Grove City College, Campbell University, and Wingate University.

In 1972, Helms announced his candidacy for a seat in the United States Senate. He won the Republican primary with 60.1 percent of the vote and eliminated two intraparty opponents.

At this point I choose to follow the adage; "if you can't say something nice about a person, don't say anything at all."

One less racist, confederate, extremist in the world

Yes. I feel lighter, somehow. Relieved.

I woke up this morning smelling sulfur.

Yeah, I think I'll follow the advice of Thumper's Dad, too.

A glowing tribute

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1995/05/bates.html

Since we now have two Jesse Helms is dead threads, I guess I'll use this one to ignore the advice in the 2nd one.

(I personally believe speaking ill of the dead is only poor taste at funerals or in front of family members.)

Kind of fitting he died on the 4th of July; he was part of the death of the dream of America, by that I mean the dream of a more perfect union.

The guy almost destroyed government funding of the arts, tightened our stranglehold on Cuba, constantly demeaned gay people, supported our wars in Central America, hindered the government's effort to deal with the AIDs epidemic, and yes won his elections through racism.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1871

As an aide to the 1950 Senate campaign of North Carolina Republican candidate Willis Smith, Helms reportedly helped create attack ads against Smith's opponent, including one which read: "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. (The News and Observer, 8/26/01; The New Republic, 6/19/95; The Observer, 5/5/96; Hard Right: The Rise of Jesse Helms, by Ernest B. Furgurson, Norton, 1986)

Ancient history? No. Helms remains unapologetic to this day. Forty years after the Smith campaign, Helms would win election against black opponent Harvey Gantt with another ad playing to racist white fear-- the so-called "white hands" ad, in which a white man's hands crumple a rejected job application while a voiceover intones, "You needed that job…but they had to give it to a minority."

In columns, commentaries and pronouncements from the Senate floor, Helms sowed hatred and called names: The University of North Carolina was "the University of Negroes and Communists." (Capital Times, 11/22/94) Black civil rights activists were "Communists and sex perverts." (Copley News Service, 8/23/01)

Of civil rights protests Helms wrote, "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights." (WRAL-TV commentary, 1963) He also wrote, "Crime rates and irresponsibility among Negroes are a fact of life which must be faced." (New York Times, 2/8/81)

Over the years Helms has declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches." (Newsweek, 12/5/94) In a tirade highlighting his routine opposition to AIDS research funding, Helms lashed out at the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988: "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." (States News Service, 5/17/88)

[snip]

He may have been a "paleo" con rather than a "neo" con but IMHO is still proof that cons are cons - vile no matter which breed they come from.

Hooray. One more anti black racist bites the dust.

Bummer Jesse....wonder if you will be re-incarnated as a black girl baby in the Sudan....your soul died long before your body did...your conscience...your compassion...amends need to be made, lessons need to be learned. I almost feel sorry for you.

Oh yeah...Happy 4th Jesse...did you see fireworks?

One more stereotype bites the dust.

That's a shame.

Okay, but can we say HAPPY FOUTH OF JULY! There truly is a God!

Independence from the ignorance of the past. A good sign.

Just when I was about to bitch about God taking all the wrong people (Carlin, Henson, Rogers), he takes racist homophobe Jesse Helms.

Well he can keep Falwell company in the roasting pit for a while. Then, I'd agree with Christine that a life as a little black girl in Sudan would be quite the karmic wakeup call. I hope it doesn't take that much pain, but I fear Jesse will learn no other way.

Ding Dong.

Jesse Helms croaked.

I winder if you hypocrites will say the samething about Robert Byrd when he finally passes away. Somehow I doubt it. Democrats can say whatever they want until they become republicans.

Say, did Robert Byrd have a change of heart and LEARN during his life? Yes.

Did Jesse Helms ever expand his viewpoint and perhaps even entertain notion that his racism and homophobia were evil? Nope.

Therein lies the difference, my friend.

One man learned and grew with time and became a better, more loving human being, another clung to the ignorance and the hate of the past with a death grip -- now the latter is dead, and the rest of the world will have one less hateful man to endure.

That's what I call a blessing I my book.

And his dying is good for even Helms. He's been prevented from further fucking up his karma with hate in this incarnation, and has been given a chance to try again in a new life.

This time maybe he'll learn not to be such an insufferable prick.

Ordinarily I don't speak ill of the dead, even when I have those thoughts. In the case of this malignant, racist thug I'll make an exception.

I'm glad you died on the Fourth of July Jesse Helms. Your death is great thing for the United States, and another defeat for the Confederacy.

Here's the proper way to hang the Confederate Flag

I always find so funny how "they" argue that the Confederate Flag is part "their heritage and history" I'd be so ashamed of such a "heritage" What's the "heritage" by the way? Slavery!!! DAMN SHAME.

One thing about Helms that was a real surprise: He and Bono became friends. Helms wrote an essay about him for Time.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...1187308,00.html

While I didn't agree with the guy, the fact he at least opened his mind to Bono's work puts him a little ahead of most Repubs.

Well getta loada this...McCain's favorite lobbi...er, strategist, Charlie Black, helped with Helms's Senate career....including some not-so-veiled ads...via Politico:

Helms and Charlie Black

xoxoxo

Encase The 'The connection is Charlie Black' And History repeats it self A Blow Back Stradigey Needs To Be Developed. Like Now More Than Ever We Are all In This Togeather To Defind The Constitution For Ever To Advance Our All Included Endeavors Not The Ones Behind the Curtion Pulling The Levers.

Click to view attachment

Good riddance to bad rubbish

You're getting a little too simplistic here.

I mean, fuck Helms. But the "heritage" is one of having the guts to fight for what one believes in. Slavery was a minor part of that conflict and has nothing to do with any heritage. I am Southern (by the grace of God BTW), no one in my lineage ever owned a slave.

I realize that it inflates the black ego to think that an entire war was waged over them but if you study the Civil War you will see that that's far from the truth.
Bottom line? Compare it to today.
Are we pro or con federate? Do we support BushCo or not?

Here's how I feel about it, enjoy.
LINK

BTW, did I mention I was voting for the Black Guy? Pretty damn racist, huh?

A parting shot from Jesse Helms. His legacy will live on.

Correction: July 6, 2008
An article today in Sunday Business about missed opportunities to reduce America’s dependence on imported oil refers to a 1990 effort by Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, to block higher mileage requirements for vehicles and notes that Mr. Helms did not return calls seeking comment. The section went to press on Thursday, before Mr. Helms’s death Friday morning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/business...amp;oref=slogin

Rest in peace you smarmy bastard!

I only have two words to sum up why I am glad he is dead....AIDS crisis.

Good. I hope lots of pain was involved in the demise.

Louden Wainwright, bless his heart, wrote a song about Jesse and art:

If Jesse Don't Like It:

If Jesse don't like it then it's prob'ly not art
Jesse knows what's good Ol' Jesse is smart
And if you don't like that don't feel sad
'Cause the art that you like is probably bad
Grandma Moses, she's OK
Never exposes anything; everything's far away
And the statue of David's all right with Jesse
'Cause Michelangelo gave him such a tiny pee-pee


If Jesse don't like it, it don't stay;
get it out of the museum, get it out of there today
Jesse's fav'rite painting is the one of the clown
with the daisy in his hand and a tear rollin' down


In the kindergarten years ago, Jesse got rude
He took a red Crayola and he drew a nude
And the teacher took a ruler to Jesse's behind
She beat his butt but she ruin'd his mind


Jesse prob'ly didn't like Picasso
But neither did the dictator Franco
And I know about art but I've got to take a hike
If I like somethin' that Jesse don't like


If Jesse thinks it's dirty it don't get any funds
They use the taxpayer's money on tobacco and guns
Your freedom of expression is bein' denied;
But if you're not sure what you like then just let Jesse decide


Don't photograph a penis; don't paint a breast
Don't write about the truth because it might offend Jesse
And don't tell it like it is, and don't show where it's at
'Cause Jesse don't like it and that is that.
---------------------

It's Googleable, and I'm not sure if there's an audio file of it somewheres...I heard it eons ago on the radio. Rest in Pe...well, how 'bout just take a rest Jesse. Hopefully your death bed brought some understanding to you in your last seconds...

xoxoxo