The headline says it all.

One less bigot on earth.

Deane has cancelled all festivities today to mourn the loss of his hero.

Ha!

Here are the cliff notes on this clown.

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

If I were a tacky person, I'd say that's 2 clowns in a row. Even tackier, who will be the third to go?

I thank former United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun for pointing out something many of knew well about Jesse Helms -- he was an unrepentant bigot. For anyone to listen to her story about the late Senator Helms literally “whistling Dixie” in a elevator in which Senator Moseley Braun was riding speaks volumes about his true character. The man had no tact.

I will not speak ill of Senator Helms.
My thoughts are for his family.

I'm sure he faithfully served his ignorant, bigoted constituency.

I just sent this e-mail to the office of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He was quoted today as saying that Jesse Helms was not a bigot.

Dear Senator McConnell:

You're quoted as saying that former Senator Jesse Helms was not a bigot? I don’t know what you’re smoking Senator McConnell, but your remark is about as bone-headed as the remark former Senator Trent Lott made about electing Senator Strom Thurmond president of the United States. He was a terrible bigot and wasn’t afraid to say so.

He opposed civil rights, gay rights, equal rights for women, supported the right wing death squads in El Salvador, supported Chilean murderer Augusto Pinochet, and showed his true stripes when he made an ass out of himself by singing “Dixie” in a elevator with former US Senator Carol Moseley Braun. So for you to say Jesse Helms was not a bigot will go down in history as one of the dumbest remarks made by a politician in 2008.

Shyguy wrote:

Deane has cancelled all festivities today to mourn the loss of his hero.

Yeah, so has Herb. I'm really surprised. I thought I would log into this thread and see Herb telling us how much he liked the man. Me, I'll be equally predictable. I thought he was president of the old bastards society. No big loss. I'll never forget him standing on the senate floor once, waving his bible in everyone's faces ranting about one of his pet causes. I'll say one thing about him, he didn't flip-flop, he stuck with what he believed in. It doesn't mean that's a good thing however.

I'm filling up a spittoon to dump on Sen. Helm's grave the next time I go to NC. If anyone wants to contribute, let me know and I'll come by with it.

(Sorry guys, I'm not gonna let your put your splunk in it. Trixter will be handling that one.)

I am sure there is a special place in Hell for him. I heard he suffered for several years before his death, so I don't know if I wish he had never been born or with he was still alive and suffering.

Is this topic really about Jesse Helms or trying to lure Deane or herb in here?

Often it seems like you all create topics cause you miss herb.

Yep, Mc74's back right on time for another weekly troll post of his own.

My thought was simply that Jesse Helms was a notorious bigot and people should have the right to respond to his passing. As to whether Herb or Deane choose to respond, that's clearly up to either of them. But to answer your question, no, I didn't post this for the benefit of Herb or Deane.

Nor did I realize that vetting topics through Herb or Deane was required.

Some of the more personal comments above did make me suspect that there was a desire to push the buttons of Herb and/or Deane. Nonetheless, a senator's votes and his past positions on issues are facts and should not be discounted. I know that Helms was a big hero to many politically active Evangelical Christians, but I don't know much of the details of his strategies and the ideological stances and voting record that made him such a hero to them.

Prior to his election to the US Senate in 1972, Jesse Helms was an executive for a North Carolina television station. One of his responsibilities was a nightly editorial broadcast on this station -- and many he delivered were terribly racist. He spoke about African-Americans in racist terms and never apologized for it. And when he served him the US Senate, he never hid the fact that he was a racist. He fought against anything to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as strongly condemning anything that was construed as promoting homosexuality. Too, he worked against federally funded research for HIV/AID’s. The only groups he seemed to support were evangelical Christians, Caucasians, right wing despots, big tobacco and members of the US military.

I was just reading the Wikipedia article on Helms, and the work that he did in the '50s and '60s to promote segregation is pretty scary. For instance, one advertisement that helped to create 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." Even as late as 1972, while running for a senate seat against Nick Galifianakis, a Greek-American, Helms used the campaign slogan: "Vote for Helms — He's One of Us!"

According to the Wikipedia article, Helms's views on race relations improved after his 1978 re-election campaign, but there is no mention of him ever recanting or apologizing for the racist and xenophobic views that he promoted in his earlier career. This makes me suspect that the Evangelicals who celebrated this politician were either really desperate to find a champion for their causes or possibly they were just too lazy to pay attention to his background.

I think they just flat out agreed with him. Including the racism.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008041214_webflag10.html

Alfredo, you may already know this, but one of my favorite comedians ( Zach Galifianakis ) tells that story of his uncle in his stand-up act.