The obligatory Jesse Helms post; Update: Video added
posted at 1:30 pm on July 5, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Hot Air e-mailers wonder why we haven’t written about the death of Jesse Helms, yesterday at 86. I can’t speak for Allahpundit, but I haven’t written anything because I’ve never been a big fan of Senator Helms. I’ve never been a big detractor of his, for that matter. His support for conservative causes helped Ronald Reagan expand the political universe for the Right in the 1980s, but his excesses helped limit it in other ways as well.
Here’s the Washington Post’s obit:
Helms’s opposition to social change and what he viewed as legislative overreaching led to his nickname of “Senator No,” a title he came to relish. He blocked nominations for federal office, withheld funding for the United Nations, opposed gun control and threatened to cancel federal support for arts groups and school busing. A staunch opponent of communism, he sought to isolate Cuban leader Fidel Castro and refused to relent on strict U.S. trade embargoes of Cuba.
In 1977, Helms angrily denounced a treaty advanced by President Jimmy Carter to turn over the Panama Canal to Panama. From 1979 to 1986, over the objections of Republican leaders, Helms used parliamentary ploys to scuttle the SALT II arms limitation treaty, which he said made unwarranted concessions to the Soviet Union. …
Throughout his career, Helms often took stands that isolated him from the left and the right. In 1990, he refused to attend South African leader Nelson Mandela‘s speech to a joint session of Congress. He railed against research on AIDS, calling it a disease of homosexuals, but late in his career he co-sponsored a bill to provide $500 million to AIDS sufferers in Africa.
He opposed a 1987 United Nations treaty banning torture and in 1997 blocked President Bill Clinton‘s nomination of former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, a liberal Republican, to be ambassador to Mexico.
An exchange at AOL’s Political Machine between Ken Layne and Dave certainly should be read, especially for Dave’s rebuttal:
It’s not because he was a racist bigot in his years as a Southern Democrat. Oh yes, you didn’t realize that from Ken’s diatribe did you? That when Senator Helms was saying those hateful things, he was a Democrat, as were nearly all of the racist segregationist [D]ixiecrats of the era.
In fact, the person who led the filibuster against the civil rights bill of 1964 and was a full member of the KKK is still a Democrat and a lionized member of the Democratic party. I haven’t seen Ken Layne write any screeds against Senator Roberty Byrd or threaten to kick him out of the party lately. So the problem with Jesse Helms can’t be his segregationist past, or else the Democrats would be craven hypocrites on this issue. …
No their real problem and the root of their disgust with Jesse Helms was his success at stopping liberal policies, and even worse, he might just be responsible for giving us the Reagan revolution[.]
I’ll say this: like many of his era, Jesse Helms was a complicated figure who got vilified, while others like Robert Byrd get an inexplicable pass. He did a lot of good, and did some damage along the way as well. If he didn’t end up winning popularity contests, Senator Helms at least warned us that he never intended to compete in them anyway.
The thread is open: how do Hot Air readers remember Senator Jesse Helms, and how do you think history should record his life?
Update: Fox News has a video retrospective on Senator Helms:
Blowback
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Helms was a great anti Communist but like Strom Thurmond his past hurt the GOP.
Now its the dems with the old race baiters still around. Its funny in sad way that if Obama wins the presidency byrd will still be 3rd (or 4th ?) in line for the Presidency.
William Amos on July 5, 2008 at 1:33 PM
As a racist and a bigot who represented the narrowest and most reactionary (i.e. the worst) elements in the American character. Thank his era has past.
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Thank Godhis era has past. Gah!!
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 1:36 PM
If the best you can do is “yeah well, he wasn’t the only racist,” then you’ve pretty much lost the argument.
e-pirate on July 5, 2008 at 1:37 PM
I’m too young to know anything about the man.
But MM seems to have a favorable opinion of him.
HYTEAndy on July 5, 2008 at 1:39 PM
To know Jesse was to love him, that is, if you are a conservative. Liberals hated him with the intensity of a thousand suns. That’s because Jesse always beat the pants off of them. He lampooned liberals with glee and had a good time doing it. His voting record supported every conservative cause. He was a great senator in my opinion and his detractors are either lefties or are just letting the left define the man for them, in my opinion. Thanks for the post Ed. Yes, it was obligatory.
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 1:41 PM
In fairness Helms was greatly attacked for his stance on gays and got alot of bad press over that. He was demonized for being right winged when others have far uglier backgrounds in the democratic party.
William Amos on July 5, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Like I said earlier, lefties hated him.
Was Jesse a racist? I don’t know, maybe he was. He certainly was not a politically correct kind of guy and he said some things that opened him up to that charge. But the left calls all staunch conservatives racist, I’m sure Jesse would have been disappointed if the left had never tried to hang that label on him. Even if it was true, its surely not as if the Democrats didn’t have plenty of racist within their own ranks.
Nevertheless, Jesse was a true conservative on all the issues that mattered. He hated communism and opposed it at every turn. He hated high taxes and big government and consistently voted and spoke out against them. He was a conservative hero even if he had some faults.
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Thanks Ed for a main page post. Helms was a large enough figure that it is worthwhile. Here’s a rewording of my comment from the headlines section: Helms was a mixed package, unfortunately, even in the 80’s, he was a throwback to a time where segregation was a valued way of life for some. It’s better for the GOP to make a case for smaller government and lower taxes that leaves the Dixiecrat legacy in history’s dustbin.
dedalus on July 5, 2008 at 1:47 PM
It’s like Moms Mabley said: ‘If you don’t have anything good to say about the dead, don’t say anything’. I won’t say the rest.
I’m almost ashamed to say that the incident with the 11 year old pregnant girl has colored my opinion to this day.
RIP Jesse and learn a thing or two while you’re on vacation.
Christine on July 5, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Growfins
Don’t ya just hate it when you screw up a correction. : )
Will you be as thoughtful of Sen Byrd when he passes. . .
Texyank on July 5, 2008 at 1:50 PM
I’m with you Ed, Helms is a hard one to to say yay or nay to. But all of those old Dems turned Repubs are. I was never a huge fan of Trent Lott either. I think the unfortunate history is that the old Dems switched parties primarily because they opposed civil rights legislation. It’s a hard stain to overcome.
NotCoach on July 5, 2008 at 1:50 PM
One just wonders what will occur when Ted Kennedy passes away (Hopefully far into the future after he retires and leaves the senate)
Ted like Jessie is a polarizing figure in American politics. Its the nature of the beast to find one figure on the other side and make him into Satan incarnate.
William Amos on July 5, 2008 at 1:51 PM
No to Castro = Good
No to Communism = Good
No to unlimited Abortion = Good
No to Democrats = Good
I’d say Jesse was a racist early on, as is Robert Byrd. If Byrd could change (says the Dems) why is it NOT possible for Helms or ANY Republican to do so? As a matter of fact, Ed Rendel said himself that racism in the Dem Party will cause Obama to lose….
He CO-sponsored a bill for AIDS? WHAT? Now that is CHANGE.
originalpechanga on July 5, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Look at the list from the WaPo. Other than Mandela, is there anything there that we wouldn’t love to see aggressively pursued by the current R’s in Congress?
He was proven correct in the end on nearly all of these issues. The Sovs were destroyed by the arms race; the UN continues to be a disaster; one of the Castros continues to run a police state; the Panama Canal treaty forced us back into Panama to take out Noriega; forced school busing has been overturned almost everywhere (including a recent defeat by the SCOTUS). Even HIV/AIDs turned out to be a homosexual/drug user disease and all the hype about “heterosexual AIDS” is now acknowledged to be a scam to scare people into supporting the federal dollars. Even NGOs now blame HIV for soaking up the lion’s share of international monies for a disease that has much less impact than things like malaria or poor drinking water.
The media’s vilification of Helmes was entirely a result of his conservative principals.
Clark1 on July 5, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Jesse was also anti-metric system. I’d agree with his quote on the issue:
If God had wanted us to use the metric system,
Jesus would have had 10 apostles.
He had a broadcast background and a great way with words.
dedalus on July 5, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Helms got his start as a broadcast journalist doing opinion pieces on WRAL, a local television station in Raleigh. He knew where all the bodies were buried in North Carolina politics, and never hesitated to use that dirt against opponents. Like a lot of the Dixiecrats, he played heavily to prejudice and ignorance. Whatever one may think of his policies and votes in the Senate, there’s no question that he got into the Senate, and stayed there, based on a legacy of mud-slinging, lies, surrogate attacks, and all other forms of dirty campaigning. And yes, that includes race-baiting and gay-baiting, up to and including surrogate accusations that a former NC governor had an illicit homosexual relationship.
Although my views and opinions are generally closer to the Republican party than the Democrats, I’ve never registered as a Republican for one reason, and that one reason is Jesse Helms. I wanted nothing to do with the Republican Party in North Carolina as long as Jesse Helms had any influence in its policies or campaign practices.
NeighborhoodCatLady on July 5, 2008 at 1:55 PM
I think Helms’ staunch opposition to communism was important for the country, but his social views (especially his apparent racism and disparagement of homosexuals) were damaging to society and his own causes. I’m thankful for some of the things he did, but hope that nobody like him ever gains so much power in this country again.
Big S on July 5, 2008 at 1:56 PM
From the WAPO article:
He supported prayer in public schools, free enterprise, a strong military, a balanced budget and what he called “decency, honor and spiritual and moral cleanliness in America.”
Wow, the nerve of that guy to support those things.
originalpechanga on July 5, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Republican alway get beat-up on Civil Rights legislation, but the fact is, Republicans were more supportive of it than Democrats. Helms would not have switched from the Democrats if he opposed it, because Democrats opposed it much more than Republicans. But Democrats have done a great job on propagandizing the public on this issue. In fact, Republicans were the ones that stopped slavery, do they get no credit for that?
And Republicans supported, for the most part, Civil Rights legislation also.
Here’s a history lesson for you.
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 2:01 PM
Helms stood up for conservatives when no one else would. While too many Republicans were worried what the New York Times and the Washington Post would say about them, Helms did what he felt was right for America and let the liberals cry in the corner.
Was he wrong on race? Yes, as were so many from his generation. But he was right about so much more. He was right that Communism had to be defeated, not ignored. He was right to stop wrongheaded liberal bills from ever seeing the light of day.
America was blessed to have him.
thankful on July 5, 2008 at 2:03 PM
It’s too bad Ed has limited knowledge of this man yet seems to shun him. Too much exposure to liberalism? I recall when the leftys, MSM, got behind former Charlotte Mayor Ghant, a black liberal, and kept at the racist tag on Helms. Ironically the black vote helped him win the state. The country blacks weren’t fooled by the national and yes, even international money and commentary that band together to unseat him. The left unleashed everything they had all across America, the UN and Europe because they feared his power against them. That should tell all you hushed-toned wishy washy conservatives something. Grow a pair will you all?
wepeople on July 5, 2008 at 2:05 PM
Obligatory my butt!
wepeople on July 5, 2008 at 2:05 PM
Regardless of how he was viewed nationally, he represented us in NC well. He sponsored important legislation, and questioned legislative power in a time of ever-expanding government.
He actually worked hard for something instead of using his senate seat as a stepping stone to a presidential bid, like that nitwit Edwards or the celebrated dilettante from Illinois.
Laserjock on July 5, 2008 at 2:10 PM
Does anyone know what this is about on drudge?
ninjapirate on July 5, 2008 at 2:12 PM
Although many Republicans (including Papa Romney) were pro-civil rights, that doesn’t change the fact that two Republican nominees for president (Goldwater, Nixon) overtly played to white southerners’ racism in bids to win the White House. Interestingly, this did not really pay off for either of them, as Goldwater lost in a landslide and Nixon lost most of the segregationist vote to Wallace, who carried a few states in the deep South. The “southern strategy” haunts the Republican party to this day.
Big S on July 5, 2008 at 2:16 PM
I never was and never will be a fan of Helms. I think Rick Moran (of Right Wing Nuthouse fame) has the best take on him.
irishspy on July 5, 2008 at 2:22 PM
I don’t know about any racism but his political views were on the money during my lifetime. He certainly wasn’t one to embrace the destructive pandering policies that most of your Republicans feel they need to support to avoid being called mean things by the liberals.
I’m old enough to remember when it was that the left really began demonizing ol Jesse. He spoke out against government financing of Robert Mapplethorpe’s sick gay porn photography and he wanted to quarantine the HIV carriers in San Francisco before they could spread their disease to the rest of the country.
Buddahpundit on July 5, 2008 at 2:28 PM
Big S:
Myth. The breakdown of the Democratic stranglehold on the South came with the decline of segregation (which had been enforced by Democrats) and with economic changes that drew Southern voters to Republican economic policies. Wallace was drawing off the White racist vote, so a “Southern Strategy” based on race would make no sense for the Nixon campaign and, say what you will otherwise, Nixon was not a dumb politician.
Oh, and if Nixon was so willing to pander to racists, why was it his Justice Department that pursued so aggressively the desegregation of schools? Why then was his first inaugural speech so highly praised by by Roy Wilkins, then-head of the NAACP?
Seems to me you need to revisit recent US history a bit. Nixon was a bad president, but he was not a panderer to racists.
irishspy on July 5, 2008 at 2:33 PM
I keep hearing the “Helms was a racist” meme. Based on what? Let’s hear the strongest evidence. And consider falsely calling “racist” has got to be at least as bad as actually BEING a racist. But the smear merchants who love to call “racist” don’t reflect on THEMSELVES long enough to see the damage they inflict when they call you, me, the ladies auxilliary club, and the coatrack racist.
Paul-Cincy on July 5, 2008 at 2:42 PM
When my father passed away in 1979, we were having some problems with his VA benefits. So, we contacted Sen. Helms office and within 2 weeks we had not only the problem solved, but a note from the office expressing condolences. Say what you want about Jesse Helms on the national scene, but he NEVER forgot who he worked for…the people of North Carolina.
Contrast this to a friend of mine whos father passed away 10 years ago and had to contact the then Senator (Edwards) for help. They never got a reply from the Senator’s office, but did end up on a “please send money for my campaign” mailing list.
NCJeff on July 5, 2008 at 2:46 PM
I’d agree that falsely calling someone a racist is a dumb and cruel thing to do. However, it can’t compare with the actual practice of racisim by men in political power.
dedalus on July 5, 2008 at 2:55 PM
You seem to believe that such things happened in a vacuum; that it, that disaffected southern white racists and segregationists somehow switched to the Republican party based only on economics without any prodding on the “social” issues they cared so much about. No less an authority than Lee Atwater himself claimed that “economic” policies promoted by Republicans in the South were aimed at the racial views of many Southern voters. I suppose you also believe that Helms’ “jobs” ad did not play to voters’ racism, or that his “Vote for Helms-He’s One of Us!” campaign slogan was simply appealing to voters’ patriotism.
As for Nixon, you should know that a politician’s campaign doesn’t always match his governing style.
Big S on July 5, 2008 at 2:57 PM
Well there’s plenty of evidence out there as to his racism, but just a little sampling…
The thing that makes Helms so uniquely reprehensible in my opinion, is that while other bigots like Byrd reformed, and indeed completely reversed their racist views later in their careers, Helms basically remained unapologetic.He even picked up a brand new minority to be bigoted against later on:homosexuals. David Broder’s assessment of Helms was spot on, he truly was “”the last prominent unabashed white racist politician in this country.”.
crr6 on July 5, 2008 at 2:57 PM
Mandela’s a commie who has great love for such leftist heroes as Mohamar Khadafi and Fidel Castro, I wouldn’t have went either.
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 2:58 PM
The Southern Strategy was a real part of Nixon’s campaigns, often credited to Kevin Phillips. It’s impact was serious enough that GOP Chair Ken Mehlman apologized for it in 2005.
dedalus on July 5, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Thanks for the revisionist history lesson Maxx. Despite what Newsmax.com says, it’s a matter of historical record (real history, not, erm, the white-washed ‘history’ you cite, that Republicans in the South opposed Civil Rights legislation
FACT: Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, won five Deep South states because of his opposition to the Civil Rights Act.
FACT: George H.W. Bush opposed the Civil Rights Act in his 1964 run for the U.S. Senate. (Bush lost to Democrat Ralph Yarborough, who was the only Southern senator to vote for the Civil Rights Act.)
FACT: Ronald Reagan, in his 1966 campaign to become governor of California, endorsed repeal of California’s Fair Housing Act, saying, “If an individual wants to discriminate against Negroes or others in selling or renting his house, it is his right to do so.”
Need we say more?
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Helms was a patriot who stood by his people & what was best for them. The only reason that is ‘complicated’ today is because we have so few patriots in office now.
DwnSouthJukin on July 5, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Republicans certainly were (and still are much more so than Dems in my view) the party of civil rights. But a major shift was occurring in the Democratic party in the late 50s and 60s and the new party wanted to give the farm away to minorities, not just make them equal. Dixiecrats went to the party that was willing to give less whether you like it or not. I don’t disagree with the Republicans not wanting to give the farm away. They saw all Americans as equals, not as identity groups. But the Dixiecrats did not like the Dems becoming the party of, for and by minorities.
NotCoach on July 5, 2008 at 3:13 PM
I think Dave got it right in his last paragraph from the link above:
Conservatives had no greater friend in the Senate even if his personal views on equal rights were at best suspect. RIP Senator Helms.
Dawnsblood on July 5, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Fact: you paid no attention to what I posted and discredited none of it. I cited the congressional record, do you dispute that?
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 3:20 PM
Well Maxx, you quoted a Newsmax article that cites two sources; a Yale University lesson plan and a Congresslink essay. The statistics you quote aren’t contained in the Yale source, and the other source doesn’t exist. I call BS on Newsmax and suspect they made this data up wholesale to suit their revisionist position.
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Even if he said it, how is this racist? Didn’t you note that Reagan allegedly said or others. Reagan probably thought a person had property rights and could sell or not sell to whoever they wished. These are my thoughst on the matter exactly. Upholding property rights does not make you a racist.
I’m not going to bother to address your other stuff, it’s too lame. If that’s the best you can do to prove the entire Republican party is composed of a bunch of racist, you are hurting.
I gave you the overall picture of Republican voting on Civil Rights and you come back of a few specific instances where Republicans allegedly opposed Civil Rights on racist grounds and all of this in the 1960′s for heaven sake. What point do you hope to make?
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Maybe you are right, you should research it and let us know, since you are the one in doubt. But I’ll tell you this, I’ve heard basically the same thing from a number of sources.
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 3:42 PM
people not from the South, do not understand it and the race issue. far too complicated to explain on a blog….Helms wasn’t a racist in short.
he was however a key Cold Warrior and Patriot that died on July the 4th…fitting.
jp on July 5, 2008 at 4:05 PM
It is always sad when another person dies, particularly one who has served this country for so long. I would imagine everyone here who keeps trying to white out Sen Helm’s bad spots were not so gentle with Ted Kennedy.
Squid Shark on July 5, 2008 at 4:07 PM
I’ve lived in the south all my life. I think I understand perfectly. And I agree that he was not the racist everyone frames him to be, but he is not completely absolved either.
He is like my grandmother who I give a pass to when she uses “Negro”. Or even my grandfather (a retired Detroit police officer) who uses the n-word pretty freely. In other words “typical white people”
Squid Shark on July 5, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Grow Fins on July 5, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Here ya go Grow Fins… the voting record by party for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
You will note from the above that the PERCENTAGE of Republicans FOR the bill was HIGHER for EVERY SINGLE vote. Do you still think Newsmax made up their story wholecloth?
Maxx on July 5, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Was there any alliance between
Senator No and Congressman No?
maverick muse on July 5, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Who is more racist in your eyes, Barack Obama or your grandfather who freely refers to people as “niggers?” I’m curiously curious.
Why do these people get a “pass?”
The Race Card on July 5, 2008 at 5:50 PM
That alone is good enough for me. I was sad to see him have to retire. Many disagreed with him on a lot of topics, but they never questioned where he stood on them. I don’t think he was a big fan of opinion polls.
R.I.P.
TugboatPhil on July 5, 2008 at 5:54 PM
Sorry I didn’t read down far enough. Did I miss the story where Jesse Helms left a young woman to die in a submerged car?
TugboatPhil on July 5, 2008 at 5:56 PM
This is because you don’t understand how the ‘civil rights movement’ completely destroyed the South. I’m not talking in a racist way, but in a government controlled SOCIAL ENGINEERING WAY.
Helms was called a racist because he was against race based legislation and school busing. Anyone against favoritism for blacks during that time was automatically labeled a RAAACIST.
Low and behold over the last 5 years court cases have gotten to the Supreme Court and the RAAAACIST Supreme Court AGREED WITH the positions Helms championed heavily through enormous scrutiny. So, Helms was RIGHT! And he’s right about the militant gays (and AIDS) and he was the first to talk about the ‘liberal media’ (a new phenomenon to you) too.
Why did Helms use the ad against Gantt concerning Affirmative Action in the 1990 election that the media uses to show how ‘racist’ we are in NC? He used it because Gantt SUPPORTED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. That’s right, it wasn’t a SMEAR, it was an ISSUE AD. A vote for Gantt was a vote for increased federal intervention to prefer one race to another. . . and he spoke for many North Carolinians and we LOVED HIM.
But yeah Ed, I can see how you wouldn’t be a fan of Helms. I can see how you wouldn’t recognize him as the LEADER of limited government, low taxes, eliminate wasteful spending CONSERVATIVE VIEWS that so many current ‘conservatives’ say they champion (so long as it doesn’t make them look like a racist or homophobe).
When Helms left, the conservative movement ended. But thankfully it left jobs for posers like yourself to cast stones at the guy who developed the political platform that you now say you ascribe to.
He was against the MLK day because it COST MONEY. He was against extra AIDS research because it TOOK MONEY AWAY FROM OTHER DISEASES LIKE CANCER. And AIDS was easily preventable in the early 80′s . . . it was just not PC to mention that if you don’t have gay sex, or shoot drugs you won’t get AIDS.
There are no conservatives in congress now. There is nobody with principle in congress. It is laughable that people still call themselves ‘conservative’. . . they aren’t . . . they are Republican. Helms was, is, and always will be THE Conservative standard bearer if you ever question what ‘conservative’ means.
More importantly, he represented North Carolina with a passion. He cared about us, not him. He never wanted to be president, he wanted to be senator for the people of the Great North State. And we are better off for having him represent us.
ThackerAgency on July 5, 2008 at 6:04 PM
I would not know about who was more racist, when my grandfather uses the n-word, I know he is referring to the POS’s that he used to have to chase through the streets, the ones that killed two of his mounts, the ones that shot him during the riots, the ones who killed his partner. He had a black partner later and never used that word for him, nor does he use it for any black person who is not part of what he terms “the criminal element”. I dont know how BO feels about white people, all or some.
As for why they get a pass in my mind, they are old, they grew up using a word like Negro or Colored. I know their children did not inherit this view, therefore I dont snootily correct them every time they say it.
Squid Shark on July 5, 2008 at 6:07 PM
I love how you bait and switch the Civil Rights movement with affirmative action.
Did MLK even advocate something like affirmative action?
Squid Shark on July 5, 2008 at 6:09 PM
ABC11 (WTVD) in Raleigh is practically dancing on his grave already. Sickening, and just a reminder why I don’t watch that station anymore!
SouthernGent on July 5, 2008 at 6:13 PM
I am not super familiar with that area, is that station in the famous “research triangle” around Chapel Hill?
Squid Shark on July 5, 2008 at 6:15 PM
crr6 on July 5, 2008 at 2:57 PM wrote:
1. (1950) shows he was a segregationist, not a racist
2. Opposed Civil Rights Act. That doesn’t make him a racist.
3. Ditto on MLK day. McCain opposed MLK day in AZ. You going to call him a racist too?
4. UNC University of Negroes and Communists. Again from 1950. 58 years ago. This shows he thought blacks were generally liberal. Not all are. Maybe 90% vote for Democrats, but not all. That makes him a bigot, not a racist. I can excuse bigotry. People take shortcuts in their thinking to get by, I can understand that.
No, he never apologized for his past. So that makes him a racist?
You want to call names? You are a hate-mongering, racist-calling race-baiter. I ask for your strongest evidence Helms is racist, there’s nothing there that says he thinks blacks are inferior to whites, or that race or skin color is a primary determinant of behavior.
We fight the previous war. It’s hard to adapt. You’re great at confronting the ills of 1950. But what are the ills of today? I’ll tell you. YOU. You’re the problem. Smearing others with the “racist” label. But you’re so oblivious, unaware, to look at yourself and understand, yeah, MY view is screwed up. I’M the problem. Calling out the race-baiters is the challenge of today, like calling out the racists was the challenge of 1950.
Let me be clear so you understand. You smear Helms with “racist” while nothing you’ve offered shows him as a racist. You’re a hate-mongering race-baiter. YOU’RE the problem of today. You’re fighting the last war, and you’re winning! Good for you. Go back to Kos and Huffpo. They love to call racist. You’ll feel right at home there.
Helms and gays? He said gays spread AIDS thru their behavior. Duh! You dispute that?
Paul-Cincy on July 5, 2008 at 6:29 PM
?!
Big S on July 5, 2008 at 6:41 PM
Big S you’re not giving me a lot to work with.
Segregationist — advocates separation of the races
Racist — believes one race is better than another
I’m not arguing separate but equal. I’m saying segregation and racism aren’t the same thing. There are black segregationists like Farrakhan as well. Let’s say what we mean. Did Helms ever believe whites are superior to blacks? That’s racism.
Also, a minor point. This was 1950, 58 years ago. It would be fairer to restrict a critique of Helms to his Senate years. Plenty there to show who he was. His votes against civil rights and MLK day don’t make him a racist. It just means he advocated a position you might disagree with.
Paul-Cincy on July 5, 2008 at 6:50 PM
This is ridiculous. The set of assumptions that lead to one advocate segregation of the races necessarily assumes that they have incompatible characteristics, with certain races superior to others. That is, it makes one a racist. “Separate but equal” is therefore not possible. You example of Farrakhan as a “segregationist” does not inspire confidence in your thinking, since he is one of the most obvious racists with mainstream exposure.
Big S on July 5, 2008 at 6:59 PM
A lot has been written, negativly, about Mr. Helms. But, I take the totality of what he stood for and against. On the whole, I would say that I liked and respected him for taking on most of what he did. I have not heard too much about the fact that at the end of his storied career, he not only met with Bono of U2 fames but was a leading advocate of a huge bill to fund AIDS prevention in Africa. He did not make a big deal about it. I take his action as maybe a way to admit that he may have been way to extreme in racial views. I do not remember then-Sen. Helms refer to certain people as “white niggers”. That honor lays at the feet of a former Grand Dragon of the KKK-current Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). So, again, I think Sen. Byrd got a pass and Sen. Helms had to face a hostile media. Go figure. And I think the greatest act of Sen. Helms was not a legislative one. But, he was a leader in getting former California Gov. Ronald Reagan to run for president in 1976. And, Sen. Helms all but engineered the Reagan victory that turned the race around and took Mr. Reagan all the way to Kansas City. Ed, look at the total record, not what the DDBMSM wants you to look at.
righty64 on July 5, 2008 at 8:36 PM
Well said! Jesse Helms was a great conservative and NC loved him. Those that didn’t, hated him. North Carolinians can only hope to have another Jesse representing us in the future.
I am suprised at the responses on this site and if I didn’t know any better I would have thought I reached the liberal site by mistake. Of course, that is how Jesse would have expected it.
livermush on July 5, 2008 at 10:24 PM
Well said, ThackerAgency.
BTW Didn’t the rabid tarring of Helms as a racist begin when he objected to affirmative action?
onlineanalyst on July 5, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Jesse Helms was against racial quotas, and was branded a racist. Does that make Ward Connerly a racist as well?
Jesse Helms was against the creation of a public holiday for a private citizen who’d never held public office, and would have (and has) cost the government millions of dollars – it was about the money, not simply the man’s skin color.
Jesse Helms was against diverting money from medical research to benefit a relatively small number of gay men who didn’t have the self restraint to wear a condom – that makes him anti-gay for pointing out they were stupid and object to paying for their stupidity?
The only truck I had with Helms was his tactics towards Cuba. I agree totally with his disdain and animosity towards the Communist regime and Castro, however, I’m of the opinion that the Communists would have lost their grip on the island if we’d done exactly the opposite that Jesse advocated – we should have completely lifted the travel and trade restrictions, and through osmosis – the regular contact by the Cuban people with Marge and Herb from Des Moines on their vacation package would have absolutely obliterated the Castro propaganda machine that said the US was full of warmongers who wanted to pillage the island – however, Jesse (along with Strom) provided the perfect setup lines for Castro, almost on cue, providing him all the ‘proof’ he needed to pull of the sham.
The most amazing thing about the coverage of Jesse’s passing is the willingness of so many to buy into the massive amount of leftist vitriol that’s been directed his way over the years. Even from people that profess to be conservative.
Wind Rider on July 5, 2008 at 10:36 PM
No major Helms opponent for a Senate seat ever received less than 45% of the vote. An awful lot of people must have hated him.
Big S on July 5, 2008 at 10:37 PM
yes.
crr6 on July 5, 2008 at 11:20 PM
How am I a hate-mongering race-baiter? I simply pointed out that someone who was against equal rights for blacks, and supported an inherently racist and white-supremacist system such as segregation is a racist. I really wonder if you realize how unbelievably out of touch with the mainstream, and indeed out of touch with reality you are on this. The system of segregation prior to Civil Rights was…racist. People who virulently supported it were….racists!
If we’re going to use the term “race baiter”, I would say it applies much better to Helms, somebody who used race in his ads and political campaigns throughout his political career, as I pointed out in my previous post.
As for your last point in AIDS, Helms referred to gays as “degenerate…weak, morally sick wretches.”. He sure seemed to make a value judgment about an entire minority group there didn’t he? You need to look at people like Helms and realize that he is what’s wrong with American race relations, instead of pointing a finger at those who acknowledge his racism and bigotry. It is not racist to recognize a racist.
crr6 on July 5, 2008 at 11:35 PM
No matter wwhat you thought about Jesse, he stood for what he believed. You knew what that was without any doubt. Oh, if we could only say that about today’s politician.
sMack on July 6, 2008 at 12:21 AM
This defense of using the word “nigger” is well-worn. It is matched in its timeliness only by the sheer audacity of those who proffer such nonsense.
Unfortunately I’ve been mistaken for one of those POSs and was mistreated because some racist bastard thought all “niggers” were the same. I’m a strong proponent of kick-ass cops. I have family on both sides in law enforcement. I used to be one of those that would say “if you’re not doing anything wrong, you don’t have any reason to worry.”
Getting beat and shot by cops will cure you of that pretty quickly. I cannot muster up any sympathy for racist cops your grandfather notwithstanding.
Thank you for your reply. I value your honesty.
***
All segregationists aren’t racists. I know this because every one I’ve ever spoken with has told me so.
***
Also, being a racist does not preclude one from befriending blacks or any other person from a group against which one is bigotted. I have friends that are racist. Racism is a moral failing in the same way alcoholism is. I have friends with drinking problems. I have friends with race issues.
If I am willing to admit to harboring racists in my own life, why is it so difficult for some to admit to the obvious, glaring racism of some in our own party…without pointing fingers at the Dems?
The Race Card on July 6, 2008 at 12:22 AM
I have to disagree. Why would someone be friends with someone they think are less equal? Less then they are? A racist thinks these people are less then them. Why would they accept them as aquals that way? Sorry a racist sees Black people, Hispanic people and Asian people as inferior (if they are white). So why exactly would they treat these so called beings as friends? Sorry Race Card. Keep playing it all you wish, but it makes absolutely no sense.
Dawnsblood on July 6, 2008 at 12:51 AM
While I disagree that alcoholism is a moral failing (there’s a chemical contribution, too), the analogy is not that bad. Just as there are different levels of alcoholism, there are different levels of racism. Some alcoholics manage to cobble together some semblance of a normal life, and can “function.” Others can’t do anything without drinking or being drunk. I assume your racist friends bear a closer resemblance to the former, and don’t let their issues with race occupy them all of the time. I’m not sure where Helms falls in the spectrum, but he surely seemed preoccupied with race for much of his career.
Big S on July 6, 2008 at 12:53 AM
This twisted idea that it’s ok to stand for what you believe when what you believe is so twisted and just plain wrong is not a good thing at all. Talk about an example of alcoholic behavior.
Jesse Helms was nothing more than a stubborn bigot parading around as a Southern gentleman, some – mostly those who shared his feelings – bought the con, thankfully most didn’t.
Remember he started out as a Dixiecrat. And after all the crap voiced here about Byrd’s racist past, Helms is no different, most of what he did soiled the GOP.
AprilOrit on July 6, 2008 at 1:14 AM
“Death is not always sad” (C) Bill Maher.
freevillage on July 6, 2008 at 1:35 AM
For all you folks that are having such a good time lynching Senator Helms, maybe you should spend a moment listening to the other side of the story.
Fiction or Truth: Correcting myths about Senator Helms
Maxx on July 6, 2008 at 1:55 AM
I agree with you, freevillage, but I suspect it’s not in the way that you intended.
Jesse was the conservative’s Conservative, and he was a rock solid ally in the fight against the USSR and its leftist allies during the Cold War.
Of course he was not perfect. A lot has been said in this thread about his failings. He was a Dixiecrat way back in the day, and he was a stalwart supporter of King Tobacco (he did come from the eastern part of NC after all). And when he campaigned, he got dirty. In my recollection, though, he never played the race card on Harvey Gantt or anyone else in his campaigning. He never took bribes, had affairs, or used drugs. On the subjects upon which he took a moral stand, no one can accuse him, to the best of my knowledge, of ever having sullied himself with scandal or similar hypocrisy in his own personal practices.
As for his sponsorship of assistance in Africa to fight the spread of AIDS late in his career, people on the political Left simply do not understand that if one has a change of heart, words mean less than nothing – but actions do.
Point to the so-called “Lions” of the Democrat Party, and you get the following: Pelosi, supporting Starkist’s request to not raise the minimum wage in American Samoa; Boxer, support of family/friends industries through earmarks (ditto for Obama and Murtha); Kennedy, wrecking the F-35 project by demanding a second engine over the objections of the DOD to support the GE factories in his state (ditto for support of costly modernizing of aging C-5A airframes over buying more C-17′s to support the USAF base in his state), and do I even need to mention Mary Jo Kopechne?; Reid, ties to gambling and the mob in Nevada; Byrd, funneling billions of earmarked dollars into West Virginia over the objections of several Federal agencies; etc., etc., etc.
But not Jesse.
Perhaps the MSM and the Left have been successful at tarring Helms with several epithets, including race.
But I voted for Jesse in 1986 when I had the chance, and I don’t regret it one bit.
Rest in Peace, Senator.
Wanderlust on July 6, 2008 at 5:07 AM
AprilOrbit is an idiot.
That is all.
corona on July 6, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Speak for yourself. I am not the one embracing a bigot, you should seek some help, you are exactly what’s wrong with the GOP.
AprilOrit on July 6, 2008 at 4:32 PM
How about sending us a link from a neutral 3rd party and maybe we’ll believe it. Jeez.
AprilOrit on July 6, 2008 at 4:41 PM
According to Karl Rove’s good buddy – Helms was a racist.
http://www.racematters.org/jessehelmswhiteracist.htm
http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/08/31/broder/index.html
David Broder is a big supporter of President Bush and Karl Rove, hates the Clintons, hardly a Liberal by any standards.
AprilOrit on July 6, 2008 at 4:53 PM
The “separate by equal” standard was not thrown out because it was racist, but because it didn’t work. By definition, “separate but equal” is not racist, because both races are to be treated equally.
Again,”separate but equal” was abandoned not because it was racist, but because it was unworkable. Once you separated the races, they were never treated equally in the end.
The only real alternative, integration, was quite painful. In schools, poor unfortunate children wound up having to ride the bus for hours each day to a different school just to accomplish the integration. Ironically, the children who were bused to other schools and the children who were already at the schools were both often afraid of each other.
In the long view, we can see it was necessary, and the results over all have been positive. But there was something fundamentally unfair about taking the racial tensions of the past generations and forcing young children to bear the burden of resolving those issues which their parents and grandparents had not. Forced busing was deeply unpopular among both races for many years.
If you’re really going to refight the battles of a generation ago, it helps to know when an issue was actually racist, and when it was based on practical issues.
For example, it was not racist to oppose making MLK’s birthday a national holiday. MLK is the ONLY American whose birthday is a national holiday. For all King’s contributions in the area of civil rights, was he really more deserving of a holiday in his honor than George Washington, the Father of our Country, or Abraham Lincoln, who saw us through the War Between the States?
Honestly, I would like to see the MLK holiday extended to a holiday in honor of Civil Rights instead. This would be a great opportunity to honor others who had a big part in advancing civil rights, such as the great Buffalo Soldiers, and the Tuskegee Airmen, who are almost unheard of. Fortunately, they do at least typically get some recognition during Black History Month
Truman’s order to integrate the Armed Forces was considerably less controversial, and the military has been a leader in integration ever since.
theregoestheneighborhood on July 6, 2008 at 10:13 PM
There was a documentary on him recently…interesting to find that he wrote Harvey Gant a letter of congratulations for his recent graduation as the first black man to attend Clemson (my alma mater). In the letter he praised him for hoeing his own row and working hard to get his engineering degree.
_
You’ll never hear about that in the MSM coverage of Helms.
_
I also heard zilch on his latter day 180 on AIDs and his charity work with Bono of U2.
MechEng5by5 on July 6, 2008 at 10:33 PM
You gave us the left’s point of view and I’ve provided the Right’s point of view. That’s the way it works in court too. Listen to both sides and then make your judgment call. I haven’t seen anything in this thread that amounts to racism, only a lot of accusations.
And a “neutral” point of view…. in the news? I can’t think of any such source, can you? Besides, the link wasn’t suppose to be neutral, it was suppose to represent Senator Helms side of the story. It deserves a listen too.
Frankly I think all you people calling Senator Helms a racist are very wrong, and very mean spirited considering the man served our country so well, and he did.
Maxx on July 7, 2008 at 9:43 AM
If Washington wouldn’t have founded the country there would not have been any rights at all, you would still be under the oppression of England or wherever you came from. Lincoln ended slavery and won the Civil War for the side that was favorable toward ending slavery and thereby saved the Union. MLK is not a peer of either Washington or Lincoln.
Maxx on July 7, 2008 at 9:58 AM
theregoestheneighborhood on July 6, 2008 at 10:13 PM
Oops, sorry about that theregoestheneighborhood, I misread your point.
Maxx on July 7, 2008 at 10:01 AM
I know all about court my father is an experienced and well-heeled attorney and a huge contributor to the GOP in many ways, not just monetarily. In our neck of the woods Jesse Helms’ excesses were questionable and some where believed to be unneccessary.
AprilOrit on July 7, 2008 at 11:08 AM
_
And your point is what exactly? All I see from you is Ad Hom attacks on Sen. Helms. The fact is that he stood up against communism, against govnm’t waste, and for family values. He had some questionable views in his youth but moderated to the center. What he did not like was the NAACP’s tactics and liberal philosophy wrt black issues, I. E. the State usurping the reponsibility of fatherhood.
MechEng5by5 on July 7, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Thanks for your post, you said it well.
There is nothing more shameful than a Republican Revisionist. Unfortunately our Beloved Party is full of them these days, it’s going to lead to the death of The Party of Lincoln and is very unsettling to me.
These extreme Rightwingers need to connect themselves to another party, because they are making the GOP sick.
Lincoln would have looked at Jesse Helms in disgust.
AprilOrit on July 7, 2008 at 11:43 AM
My point is this – his type doesn’t belong in a Party started by Abe Lincoln, period. he should have remained a Democrat and done us all a favor.
The only usurping going on here is the Far Right usurping the GOP.
AprilOrit on July 7, 2008 at 11:49 AM
_
OOOOwww, now who’s burning heretics at the stake and advocating purification and sanctity of the party? I thought we were the only ones who could be accused of that.
_
Keep up the destruction of the GOP and you’ll be able to change your name to AprilObit.
MechEng5by5 on July 7, 2008 at 2:28 PM
Nice….
AprilOrit on July 7, 2008 at 5:01 PM
Even nicer – the wrods of the bigot you think is fabulous -
“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?” (1950)
“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.” (1963)
“All Latins are volatile people.” (1986)
“Blacks, gays and lesbians are responsible for the proliferation of AIDS”
Wow, he even stooped to Byrd’s level and used the N word – you people rattletrap about that incessantly, but Helms the wingnut gets a pass – more partisan blindness. And he used the word slants to describe Asians, disgusting.
“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.” (1985)
“The University of North Carolina (UNC)… the University of Negroes and Communists…” (1995)
Yep, this guy was great for the GOP…shameful.
AprilOrit on July 8, 2008 at 10:53 AM