Former Senator Jesse Helms dead at 86
Written by Sam on July 4th, 2008
RALEIGH - Former U.S. Sen. Jesse A. Helms, the son of a Monroe police chief who rose to national prominence as one of the leading lions of the American right, died early this morning. He was 86.
During a political career that began with his election to the Raleigh City Council in the late 1950s and included 30 years in the U.S. Senate, Jesse Alexander Helms endeared himself to conservatives throughout the country.
Helms became known as “Senator No” for his constant battles against everything from increased government spending to civil rights legislation to communism to the National Endowment for the Arts. Helms was even willing to wage war against fellow Republicans if he felt they were straying from the conservative agenda, particularly in the area of foreign policy.
Putting aside the racial issues associated with Helms, he was a model conservative for standing up to the excesses of government and for standing on principle. He wasn’t even afraid to go after members of his own party, which I always found quite admirable. I wish we could have more representatives in the GOP with his courage and character.
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R.I.P.
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Fitting that he would die on the morning of the Fourth of July. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams also died on this day, in 1826, 50 years after the Declaration.
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Agreed.
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Langley, I was thinking the same thing when I heard the news this morning.
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So you believe that AIDS is universally caused by “deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct”, and that “there is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy”?
You seem to enjoy defining your opponents by the worst thing they’ve ever said or done, so I think it’s fair to hold Mr. Helms to the same standard.
That you would hold up a person who was, at his heart, such a disgusting bigot as a hero because he championed some causes you belived in is pretty revealing.
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Ruh-row, strawman argument from ol’ Publius! Alert the media!
Not even going to waste my time here.
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Publius! I missed you like herpes.
Now, to whom are you referring when you say, “You seem to enjoy defining your opponents by the worst thing they’ve ever said or done, so I think it’s fair to hold Mr. Helms to the same standard?” Specifically, who’s “You,” and who’s “your opponents?”
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What’s the strawman here? He didn’t say it? You don’t think that outrageous and disgusting comments form at least part of a person’s character?
You’re lauding this guy like some kind of hero because he fought for some of your pet issues. I’m simply pointing out that he’s a bad person.
It’s amazing how you’re willing to ignore distusting behavior as long as a person fights on your side. Isn’t it Republicans who argue that character should form a part of how candidates for political office are assessed?
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I know this will sound terrible, but there is one less bigot in the world. I will say the same thing when Robert KKK Byrd leaves this world too.
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Publius, you are completely ignoring facts of the matter, and you know it. No man is perfect. Men who hailed from earlier times, such as Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, obviously had some archaic prejudices that they had to grow out of. The same Helms who made the comments about AIDS that you point out several years later was a big proponent of AIDS relief funding for Africa. He also employed many black people on his staff.
You want to have your cake and eat it too. And myself and the others on this site will not let you.
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I hear crickets…
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Langley, didn’t James Meredith himself go to work for Helms?
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On the race point, surely even you recognize that your “employed many black people on his staff” argument is ridiculous. “I had a black person at my house for dinner last year, and even let him use my bathroom.” Does that prove that I’m not racist?
At least to me, the more serious issue is his very vocal anti AIDS-funding advocacy. The earliest example I can find of Helms’ supporting AIDS funding is in 2000. The outrageous comments from above are from 1996, well after any decent person realized that AIDS is more than a ray gun to zap faggots. Whether or not he had an epiphany later in life is irrelevant. Do we forgive child molesters for their disgusting conduct if they seem like they’re sorry later?
Sometimes, repulsive behavior sticks with your forever, no matter how repentant you act. To me, Helms’ AIDS bigotry is that bad.
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Wow.
Comments about AIDS in 1996 = Molesting a child.
You must not get outside enough.
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It was a metaphor, my friend. The point is that it *is* possible to do or say things sufficiently outrageous that merely appearing sorry later doesn’t atone for it.
Actively campaigning, as a public official, against funding research into a tragic and debilitating disease — purely out of spite and hatred — is so evil that it stains his character irreparably. Have you been close to anyone who died of AIDS?
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And now we go down the road of defining Absolute Moral Authority. I know how Publius plays this game; demands, upon any discussion about military or foreign affairs, to see everyone’s military ID badge. Now we see that he’s going to poll everyone’s experience pertaining to AIDS to discuss this issue.
Point is, maybe Helms’ past actions regarding AIDS, even despite his staunch support for funding against the disease at a later time, angers you to the point of making crappy metaphors. Alas, it’s still a crappy metaphor to compare comments made about a disease which for years baffled doctors and people all over the world, to molesting a child.
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This argument is senseless. Pubes’ judgement is terrible. This guy believed that Hillary Clinton confused a little girl with flowers for snipers because she was sleepy. End of story.
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Some straight talk about Helms:
http://www.flynnfiles.com/archives/politics2008/jesse_helms_rip.html
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wow, hate to say it, but Pub is right. He said some horrible things, but, so horrible that I swore I was in another country, he was very full of hate. you all avoided the issue of his quotes.