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RIP Jesse Helms

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in North Carolina, R.I.P.

Earlier today, former Republican senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms died at the age of 86. Helms, often a controversial figure, was one of the Republicans who led the expansion of the GOP base to included blue collar workers and especially evangelicals and other social conservatives. A staunch opponent of abortion and communism and a strong proponent of free trade and fighting the African AIDS epidemic, he was an important and powerful senator in his time.

May he rest in peace.


This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 and is filed under North Carolina, R.I.P.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “RIP Jesse Helms”

  1. RealAmerican Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    May he rot! Jesse Helms was a RACIST PIG. He OPPOSED giving blacks the rigth to vote! He opposed rights for homosexuals. He OPPOSED fighting AIDS in the US, and blamed AIDS on gays. He was a despicable human being and a terrible american. Glad he’s dead. Good riddens !!!! : ) : ) : )

  2. Schmedlap Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

    You left out racist bigot of the worst kind and homophobe first class. That he died on the Fourth of July is a blight on our democracy. Now he’s with ol’ Strom and the boys mending their sheets.

  3. Jimmy the Dhimmi Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    Former Grand Marquis of the Ku Klux Clan, and the most senior member of the senate, Democrat Robert Byrd, is on my celebrity death pool for 2008 (I have him fourth, next to Peter O’toole, Fidel Castro, and Roger Ebert). I wonder if you two dudes will say the same about him when he croaks.

  4. Jim S Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    I don’t much care for Byrd and wish he’d retired years ago, but at least he abandoned his racist background long ago. Helms didn’t, even as he denied being a racist. No one was misinterpreting the “white hands” ad.

  5. Schmedlap Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 5:17 pm

    Jesse Helms would not make a good pimple on Robert Byrd’s ass.

    Byrd has regretted his membership in the KKK for decades and still speaks of his regret. Helms reveled in bigoted views.

    Answer to Jimmy the Dhimwhit: No I won’t say the same thing about Robert Byrd.

  6. Jim S Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    Here’s a pretty balanced account of Byrd’s Klan ties and why he overcame them in his political career from the Washington Post.

  7. Donklephant » Blog Archive » A Note on Helms and Obits Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 7:00 am

    [...] past Friday, I wrote a short obituary of Jesse Helms. Usually, I don’t respond to a post’s comments with another post. But I [...]

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