In Memoriam: Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr., 1921-2008

[thatcrazycajun]

This one comes under the heading of "give the Devil his due": My local paper reports that former North Carolina US Senator Jesse Helms has died at 86, in a Raleigh hospice where he had lived in declining health the last few years following his decision not to seek a sixth term and a series of minor strokes causing vascular dementia. Had he retained his senses, he would no doubt find it fitting to die on Independence Day, July 4th, for his patriotism was so fervent it led him to be a thorn in the side to no less than his late fellow Republican Ronald Reagan, who described him in just those words.

He was a bigot and racist and homophobe in the eyes of many, including Your Humble Correspondent on numerous occasions. He stood in the way of progress so many times his Senate colleagues bestowed on him the nickname "Senator No." The New York Times reports on his life and career here. But in his last term, he began to show signs of mellowing, among them advocating greater federal funding for AIDS relief in Africa; indeed, his vote may have been one of many that placed the resources in the hands of my Songbird and her fellow CDC workers in Nairobi to do what they now do.

So I cannot bring myself to condemn him unequivocally as he goes to his final reward, whatever that may be. But I will note that his passing may be indicative of his reactionary generation dying off, leaving younger, hopefully more reasonable minds in charge of policy. And politically speaking, his side is weaker for the loss...and ours is stronger. May it not take as long to undo the damage he did as it did for him to leave Congress.

Comments

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

This one comes under the heading of "give the Devil his due"

Benito made the trains run on time.

Hitler rebuilt a raped country.

Yet, oddly enough, I think you're right.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

The Jewish blessing upon hearing that someone has died translates as, "Blessed are Thou, oh L-rd our G-D, ruler of the universe, the true judge."

In this "person's," case, I would add, "and may you get your just desserts."

[darrenzieger.livejournal.com]

"But in his last term, he began to show signs of mellowing....So I cannot bring myself to condemn him unequivocally as he goes to his final reward."

That's OK. I can. Helms never had a George Wallace-style "sorry, my bad" moment. He was an unrepentant, unreconstructed, old school n*gger-hater (and fag-hater, and jew-hater, and...well, here are a few of his greatest hits (gakked from several sources):

"[The Civil Rights Act is] the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress"

"No intelligent Negro citizen should be insulted by a reference to this very plain fact of life [that black people are inherently inferior to whites]. It is time to face honestly and sincerely the purely scientific statistical evidence of natural racial distinction in group intellect. ... Those who would undertake to solve the problem by merely spending more money, and by massive forced integration, may be doing the greatest injustice of all to the Negro."


On the 1963 Civil Rights protests: "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."


Helms played upon [1972 democratic senate candidate] Nick Galifianakis' ethnicity during the campaign, running under the slogan "Vote for Helms—He's One of Us!".


Helms opposed the Martin Luther King Day bill in 1983 on grounds that King had two associates with communist ties, Stanley Levison and Jack O'Dell. Helms led the Senatorial opposition to the bill and voiced disapproval of King's alleged philandering.


In Helms'1990 Senate race against Harvey Gantt (an African American), the Helms camp ran the infamous White Hands ad, featuring a pair of white hands crumpling a rejection letter. The voice over says, "You needed that job, but they had to give it to a minority because of racial quotas."


In 1996 Helms' campaign (again against Gantt) was cited by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating civil rights and voting laws. (Fun fact: senior John McCain advisor Charlie Black advised Helms when he ran against Gantt.)


"Think about it. Homosexuals and lesbians, disgusting people marching in our streets demanding all sorts of things, including the right to marry each other. How do you like them apples?" (1990 campaign speech)


Re: Bill Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy: [Clinton] better have a bodyguard if he visits North Carolina."


When he made an appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live in Sept. 1995, a caller praised him "for everything you’ve done to help keep down the niggers." Helms looked in the camera and replied, "Well thank you, I think."

Opposing the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988, Helms stated, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." When Ryan White died in 1990, his mother went to Congress to speak to politicians on behalf of people with AIDS. She spoke to 23 representatives: Helms refused to speak to her even when she was alone with him in an elevator. Despite opposition by Helms, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Care (CARE) Act passed in 1990.


Helms tried to block the re-funding of CARE in 1995, saying that those with AIDS were responsible for the disease, because they had contracted it because of their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct"


Soon after the Senate vote on the Confederate flag insignia, Helms ran into Carol Mosely-Braun in a Capitol elevator. Helms turned to his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), and said, "Watch me make her cry. I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing 'Dixie' until she cries." He then proceeded to sing the song about "the good life" during slavery to Mosely-Braun.

"Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade school
classes that teach our children that CANNIBALISM, WIFE-SWAPPING, and the MURDER of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior." (Part of the text of a fundraising mailer sent out by the Helms campaign.)


And finally (I swear I am not making this up):
"I've been portrayed as a caveman by some. That's not true. I'm a conservative progressive, and that means I think all men are equal, be they slants, beaners or niggers."

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

"I'm a conservative progressive" --Jesse Helms

The sad thing is that there's no way to tell if that's even deliberate gibberish....

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Add sexual harassment to the list of Helm's sins.

A close friend of mine works at a battered women's shelter in DC. She periodically has to lobby Senators and Reps. on the relevant committee to get the shelter's funding renewed. Jesse always voted for it eventually -- after taunting her with all the paleolithic reasons why he shouldn't, while patting her fanny.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

The best thing I can say about that loathsome piece of pseudohuman excrement (while he was alive) was that he had integrity. Of course, it was the integrity of pure hatred and narrowminded bigotry, of hurtfulness and of harm.

The world is far better off without him, fifty years too late.

[maya-a.livejournal.com]

The nicest thing I can say about Helms is what I said of Falwell: may he receive exactly what he deserves.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Actually, because I try to avoid speaking ill of the dead, I prefer to wish him a better reception in the afterlife than he deserves.

[gorgeousgary]

Alternate Music: "Jesse + Phil", from the Austin Lounge Lizards's STRANGE NOISES IN THE DARK.