Jesse Helms dead at 86
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TurkeyWithaSunburn
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That's odd-I thought he was dead and quite a while back.
Come to think of it, in many ways he was.
So. Senator No is d-e-a-d. I'm nearly speechless, I wonder how Weld and Castro are reacting to this.
In closing, Jesse Helms will be missed (not necessarily by me though). Sleep peacefully Mr.Helms, you angered many; yet stood your ground-maybe that'll be helpful in your new locale.
Come to think of it, in many ways he was.
So. Senator No is d-e-a-d. I'm nearly speechless, I wonder how Weld and Castro are reacting to this.
In closing, Jesse Helms will be missed (not necessarily by me though). Sleep peacefully Mr.Helms, you angered many; yet stood your ground-maybe that'll be helpful in your new locale.
This reminds me of something I heard about the Late Lady Bird Johnson replying to someone mentioning that LBJ was looking down on them from heaven. She said something like, "Oh, you think he's there?" I do hope he made his peace.
Alright, Naughty, I'll say it for you (and I hope I get it right):
I feel for his family and friends in their time of grief. I won't celebrate the death of the man, but I will celebrate the death of his politics.
(Hmm, funny... I said almost exactly the same thing when Ronnie Reagan bit the dust.)
I feel for his family and friends in their time of grief. I won't celebrate the death of the man, but I will celebrate the death of his politics.
(Hmm, funny... I said almost exactly the same thing when Ronnie Reagan bit the dust.)
That was very gracious. I too felt the same way at the passing of the "Great Prevaricator".
invisibleman
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Well, that's probably a matter of perspective. I'm guessing (your profile notwithstanding) that you are neither a homosexual nor a Negro. His politics were unsettlingly "klannish."
Naughty, am I confusing him with someone else, or did he recant a lot of his youthful bigotry? Now that I think about it, haven't a lot of politicians with his philosophical history recanted their youthful ideology in their later years?
B_Hickboy
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The question was aimed at someone else, but I'll jump in. You may be thinking about Strom Thurmond and/or Robert Byrd, both of whom started out as thundering racists and later (at least in public) mended their ways.
It would be unseemly for me to rejoice at anyone's death, so I've nothing bad to say about Helms. By all accounts he was a nice guy, and I'm sure he did what he thought was right. But he did a lot of damage that has outlived him, and will take years to undo if we ever get around to it. I was a North Carolina resident when Helms pulled a lot of the worst of his shenanigans, and my relief when he left political life was immense.
It's interesting that he's died on the same day as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
I dont know about that. He may have said it with his lips, but he told the truth with his voting record. He was singularly one of the major reasons that the National Museum of African American History (Smithsonian) was not legislated until very recently. This museum has been promised to African Americans since after the Civil War. Ironicall,y it was Republican Brownback along with John Lewis who finally pushed it through. President Bush made sure that it received the last spot on the Mall right underneath the Washington Monument by stating that any other site would be an insult to African Americans and then gave a sizeable contribution of his own to start it off.
One reason the site was chosen was because surrounding what is now the National Mall were where the slave markets of the area were located during the Ante Bellum period not to mention that many of the original buildings of the Smithsonian were built at least partially by slave labor.
It is also not a coincidence that the Native American Museum resides right under the Capitol building with the eternal Native American looking down upon it. Nor is it coincidence that the African American museum will reside at the base of the memorial of the slave owning founding father ,George Washington .
Senator Helms earned the title "Senator No" because of his relentless and unabashed opposition to anything related to civil rights minorities. On the rare occassion he may have acquiesed it was under duress. So, may you rest in peace, sir...
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This is slightly off topic, but I don't think term limits are the answer to the problem of corruption. With term limits, all the politicians will do is work harder to squeeze the most amount of corruption into the shortest amount of time, and then not be held accountable at all. People will just say,"That one will be gone soon enough". The only defense against corruption is for the voters to pay continuous attention to what the scoundrels are doing, and respond appropriately. More public apathy = more political corruption.
Bbucko
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I was once told by a Helms apologist that his policies were all dictated to him by his churlish, bigoted, hateful wife. But even while I heard this it seemed almost impossible to believe.
I have never heard a politician in my adulthood spew such toxic hate directed at so many, and I can only hope that he's being shown the (many) errors of this ways right now.
I have never heard a politician in my adulthood spew such toxic hate directed at so many, and I can only hope that he's being shown the (many) errors of this ways right now.
No, I fear it was a bit closer to home. Senator Helms seemed to have learned his hatin' ways at the knee of his dear old dad, Jesse Sr, who was known to have been a very violent, bigoted man. Now his wife may also share his views but I believe he was probably speaking for himself. Unfortunately as we found out with the former speaker of the house he has and has had much company but many have chosen to stay quiet about their positions in lieu of a a political career.The fact that the senator was reelected so many times speaks volumes about his constituency as well.
His stand on AIDs also made my blood run cold.
Oh and I can speak about this. I pay taxes to the great state of NC.
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