Please don't feed the trolls!
Jesse Helms has the deaths of millions on his hands for the way he politicized the early days of AIDS and kept positive, pro-active public health policy from being implemented. In NC, we remember the race-baiting TV editorials and the dirty campaign tactics that follow a straight line to Karl Rove and Faux News of today. The world is a better place without him in it. (Though expect John McSame and the other Reps to laud his "contributions.") Let US declare our independence from his incipient and destructive brand of politics. Now, I'm going to go get into bed with my husband and we'll have rollicking gay sex in memory of Jesse!
Joy to the world, the bitch is dead. Let freedom reign!!!!!!!!!
totally fitting that he should croak on the 4th.
we should raise our glasses and celebrate
Times like this, I hope the fundies have it right.
Fire, brimstone, a gnashing of teeth.
Jesse Helms and Jerry Falwell: snogging in hell for all eternity.
You're only supposed to say good things about the dead. Jesse Helms is dead. Good.
(with apologies to the late Bette Davis.)
My favorite quote was Whoopi Goldberg. Jesse had said that if young people read pamphlets on safe sex, they'd want to do the things in the pamphlet. Whoopi responded, "Well, Jesse, who are you fucking and what's his name, because I know you read the pamphlet."
http://www.wku.edu/Library/onlin.../
helms_aids.jpg
Dont let the door hit your ass on the way out Jesse!
Good riddance! Hell isn't hot enough for that ghoul.
Ding Dong The Witch is Dead! Which Old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong The Wicked Witch is Dead!
Woo-Hoo!
This North Carolina boy is gonna celebrate by fucking his brains out all afternoon!
He's Dead Y'All!
Damn -- Mike pre-empted my response. Happy 4th to those celebrating it.
and he can finally have his desire to be quarantined too. all by himself rotting in the dirt.
can mrs dole please be next?
Hmmm. I wonder if Westboro Baptist will be picketing his funeral ? I wonder if he split hell wide open ?
The old guard is falling.
Why did he have to die on the 4th of July. I bet he did it on purpose.
Like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
From wiki:
On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams died at his home in Quincy. His last words are often quoted as "Thomas Jefferson survives." Only the words "Thomas Jefferson" were clearly intelligible, however.[52] Adams was unaware that Jefferson, his compatriot in their quest for independence, then great political rival, then later friend and correspondent, had died a few hours earlier on the very same day.
I wish he'd lived just long enough to see us elect a black president. Then he could've croaked.
i'm just waiting for the log cabinette backstabbers to release their paean to the "glorious" conservative jesse helms. to all log cabinettes, this is the true face of your precious repiggie party.
H F Mudd III -- Same thought came to my mind about the old fart croaking on July 4th.
Good riddance to bad rubbish. If there is a hell he is right there warming up at the fire.
I hope God/Goddess/Whatevs is a lesbian African-American in a polyamorous relationship with a rainbow of white, Asian and Latina women. That, and there's a troop of gays who passed on due to AIDS who have aluminum baseball bats to beat the shit out of his spectre.
No word at the Westboro site yet. They did picket Falwell's funeral. We'll see if he passes muster. 
Rad fags and artists should attend his funeral and the guys can pull a mass Piss Christ and urinate all over his stinking grave while the gals ppull a Karen Finlay cunt-in and shove pages of the bible up their snatch then toss them onto the coffin.
Honestly, I think that quote about equality could be funny coming from someone like Margaret Cho or the late George Carlin. From Helms? No.
I usually remain fairly quiet after someone of renown passes on, out of respect to family and loved ones.
In this case, OH HELL NO! This one was rotten to the core. I don't give a paisley fuck about hurting anyone's feelings. Jesse Helms was evil personified. I hope he continues to rot and fester in his own bile.
Good fucking riddance.
The FREIGHT TRAIN OF LIBERALISM IS BACK ON TRACK! yeah!
While towards the end of his life he got around to advocating HIV prevention and more medication aid in Africa, that will not be enough from keep him from Hell.
Here's a Daily Show clip from when he retired:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/vide...xit-stage-
right
I have this thing I call The Good List and ol' Jesse's name just got added.
The Good List, you ask? Is a list of fuckers who, when they die, I say "good".
@That guy: God, I wish Stewart and Colbert hadn't gone on vacation right now...
I join my voice with everyone else. I am glad this asshat is gone. I hope it was an especially painful and long death.
BUT...
Remember the brouhaha several weeks ago when some commenters on this site attacked others for speaking ill of Tim Russert's quick departure?
How we were supposed to be civil and cry crocodile tears for his wife and family, even though Russert's job was a mouthpiece for the Bush regime? Did Russert do anything positive for anyone except line his own pockets?
And monster Jesse Helms finally croaks and nary a good word is said about him? Well, we know Helm's record, and it's not good.
So that means that the most despicable people get no civility when they die, and the marginal do, but one someone disagrees with another's lack of civility, s/he gets blasted by those who found a whit of humanity in that person (as some people thought Russert had)?
Blogs ARE for venting frustrations with like-minded people - I dare say that blogs serve an important psychological function for the 20 percent of Americans who know how to think.
I'm not complaining, mind you, about the 100% positive posts on Helm's departure. He was truly one of the worst men who plopped his fat ass in a Congressional chair for too-many years.
But I will say it again - it is stoopid for anyone to feign sadness for the passing of ANYone who did nothing productive while alive.
At least Leona Helmsley, racist tyrant she was, and a person everyone loved to hate, left billions for animal research.
Even though I'm an atheist, I hope Jesse Helms is BURNING IN HELL!
Dead dead dead? Good good good!
YOU ARE AN ANGRY BITTER GROUP OF QUEENS.................seriously
NASTY!
Let's give him this: He made his positions crystal clear. Never any back-pedaling or flip-flopping and he remained true to the agenda in which he believed (even Ronald Regan once said of him "He's a thorn in my side".) We can't say that about the current crop who try to be everything to everyone and aren't black or white about anything.
haha..not to bring up russert again, but puleeze..that stagey photo of young 'rising star' Luke touching the vacant chair..vo-mit !
party time!
http://www.queersunited.blogspot.com
ding dong
hallelujah!
wonder how those flames feel licking his hateful ass?
"I'd kill him again if I could" - Paulie Walnuts
Imagine Jesse's pique when he gets to heaven and finds that it's run by a lesbian of color who tells him "I'm sorry, baby, you're going to have to spend time in the purgatory line."
Ding-dong, the witch is dead.
With most people's passing you are able to put on your rose-colored glasses and say something positive about them. But, with Jesse Helms there is NOTHING.
I hope, years from now I don't hear "He wasn't all that bad," like I hear when people are referring to Ronald Reagan.
He'd thankfully been irrelevant for awhile, but let's not forget that his "reign" says/said an AWWWWFUL lot about the good folks of NC. Any who voted for him are just as guilty in my opinion, and an example of why I have a deep bias against many Suth-uh-nuhs.
Jesse....
I won't cut fresh flowers for your funeral.
He'd thankfully been irrelevant for awhile, but let's not forget that his "reign" says/said an AWWWWFUL lot about the good folks of NC. Any who voted for him are just as guilty in my opinion, and an example of why I have a deep bias against many Suth-uh-nuhs.
now I know what words to put on the cake for the cookout.
"I wish he'd lived just long enough to see us elect a black president. Then he could've croaked."
@ That Guy
Maybe just the thought did him in. Which in my book is just damn dandy !!!
Long ago, as part of his rant on people saying stupid things, comedian George Wallace (not to be confused with that other George Wallace), commented on people using the phrase "untimely death," asking when people would see a death as timely. His example of when that might be so was...
"Senator Jesse Helms died today, and it's about doggone time!!!"
Amen.
What's that stank? Oh that's Jesse rotting.
As those great philosophers, The Three Stooges, would say "Dead as a Mackrel".
I like the Whoopi Goldberg quote upthread, but I have to say I always figured Jesse for someone who got into kinky sex with Black girls. maybe Condi used to whip him in her basement while wearing a schoolgirl uniform. Ralph Reed strikes me as the wingnut most likely to be found some nubile boy doing nasty things.
I'll be planning a trip to piss on his grave.
Where is hIs grave (going to be) I need to take a
C*!P!
let me join in the general merriment and happiness that this old bastard, this evil old fuck, this evil old coot is dead... ding dong indeed... honey i'm doing cartwheels i'm so happy! now who has the videotapes of him fucking little boys? certainly they will surface eventually...the old hypocrite... piss on his grave indeed!
Woo-hoo
One more reason to celebrate on this 4th of July.
I'm Canadian so I work today but I'll take a few seconds,look down and yell
"Now this is why you're rotting in hell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Thanks Phoebe !
Thank dog...thank dog, indeed....every insane fundie (which is pretty much all of them) "called home" makes this world a better place for the rest of us.
The haters will disappear one-by-one. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll see the extinguishment of these people in our lifetimes.
We had a memorial service themed party for Jesse in 2000. Guests composed eulogies, we sent him sympathy cards, toasted him with cuban rum, and feasted on dishes that celebrated the blending of black and white. I believe one was integration salad. We took pictures and sent them to his office.
But public celebrations of a man's death are probably too much. Let's all just commit sodomy in his honor tonight.
Let me add, I hope he is forced to watch the LOGO channel throughout eternity!
(That may be too cruel, even for me..)
Jim Maynard
Queer Notes
http://queernotes.blogspot.com
ps. CNN has already eliminated the readers' comments on his death. Too negative. I'm keeping the TV off so I don't have to hear a nice word about him.
Rot in hell Jesse Helms, you vile piece of stinking shit.
(Hrmmmm . . . so far no scolding concern trolls telling us how bad this makes us look. Good.)
YOU ARE AN ANGRY BITTER GROUP OF QUEENS.................seriously
NASTY!
John | 07.04.08 - 12:54 pm
I was wrong.
Sorry, Marc...but some idiot named "John" above seems to have confused 'righteous celebration' with 'bitter'...I say "John" can go suck Jesse's withered, wrinkled, necrotic, stinking a-hole. Is that angry and bitter enough for you, quisling?
[Hell's too good for that m-fer...]
When I heard about I hoped that they'd checked to see(to see) if he(if he)was
morally
ethically
spiritually
physically
positively
absolutely
undeniably and reliably Dead.
But then the coroner in Raleigh averred that he'd thoroughly examined him, and he's not only MERELY dead, he's really most SINCERELY dead...
Ding Dong, everybody!
...ah...I see while I was typing my response you found the little turd as well...
Who can forget his opposition to having Roberta Achtenberg become HUD Assistant Secretary because she was, in his words a "damned lesbian"?
Let me add my voice to those who hope he discovers in the next world that "God," in fact, is Audre Lorde.
I'm with "That Guy". He should have lived a little longer, suffered a lot more and seen the first black president. Then the party!
First a thanks to Father Tony for some modulation in all this frenzy.
Everyone dies, folks. Joe will die, I will die and you all will die at some point. And someone will probably celebrate that fact as others mourn it.
I also don't see how the Religious Right will not paint his death on the Fourth as a testament by GOD Himself that Jesse Helms was a "true patriot," as disgusting as that sounds. You can count on it.
I have to disagree with the "at least he was honest" sentiment. He held up important legislation and did plenty of volitional damage. Other people may be fair weather friends or wishy-washy, but his "honesty" made him a formidable power to be reckoned with. And many "lights" of the Right like George Will once worked for him.
We all will meet our maker. Hopefully, most of us will not have scorched as much earth or as many people as this vile character.
My favorite Jesse memory: He got into an elevator with Carol Mosley Braun and sang Dixie repeatedly to see if he could make her cry.
He couldn't.
The philospher Emil M. Cioran once said something along the lines of "The problem with killing yourself is that one is always too late." Something parallel applies here. I see no need for decorum--he was an demon, staight-up--but I see no reason to celebrate either, as his death comes too late to matter.
One wonders how Obama negotiates this. He'll be asked about it, I'm sure.
To paraphrase Bette Davis on the passing of her pal Joan Crawford: My mother said that you should never say anything bad about the dead--you should only say good. Helms is dead. Good.
Back when I lived in Chapel Hill, I always wanted to see this scenario played out:
Jesse is running for re-election.
He's giving a speech, or better, a big press conference.
A huge hulking drag queen (think Dee Snyder, only not so subtle) runs up to Jesse, dips him, plants one on him with lots of tongue, drops him to the floor, grabs the mic and claims to have been Jesse's gay lover for the last five years and then proclaim his everlasting love for the senator.
It would be disproved within the space of about five minutes. But the image wouild have been planted in the minds of his supporters, and the damage to his image would have been done.
Those were *exactly* Jesse's own tactics against his opponents (lies, distortion, half-truths and image/spin attacks -- in other words, the predecessor to Karl Rove), and I'd have loved to have seen those tactics used against him.
The only problem would have been that you'd have to find someone willing to kiss Jesse Helms on the mouth....
Of course we're angry and bitter, John. We have every right to be.
As joyous as Ol' Jess taking a dirt nap makes me, I am royally pissed that many of the news outlets are taking the "don't speak ill of the dead route" and not yodeling "ding, dong the witch is dead" as they should.
As NPR put it "He used race very effectively."
If death does in fact always strike in threes this fourth of July it seems we're still left wondering just who the third Bozo will be.
He'd thankfully been irrelevant for awhile, but let's not forget that his "reign" says/said an AWWWWFUL lot about the good folks of NC. Any who voted for him are just as guilty in my opinion, and an example of why I have a deep bias against many Suth-uh-nuhs.
I was raised in the South -- in NC, in fact. I know that Jesse was in office partly due to people agreeing with him. He was in office partly because people can be just plain stupid. He was in office partly because "My Daddy voted for him, and what's good enough for my Daddy is good enough for me."
But he was in office *primarily* due to lies, deceit, dirty pool, slander, whisper campaigns and general dishonesty -- just like our current President.
He ran some of the dirtiest campaigns on record, including out-and-out lies and even name calling (he once said that his opponent was gay, for no other reason than he knew that how his opponent responded would almost certainly lose him some votes, either from ultra-conservatives or from ultra-liberals).
Helms was a big part of the the mold from which the current dynasty... er... monarchy... er... administration was formed. Period.
Jesse conned his way into office in *exactly* the same way that Bush convinced a lot of voters that he stood for the rights of the working class when he really stood for the rights of the Corporations.
This is TOO funny! On Verizon's home page under the Today banner, they have a picture of Jesse Helms and three links. Normally these links are related to the picture. One of the links says, "Longtime Bozo the Clown dies." I am not kidding. I guess today is no different.
http://home.verizon.yahoo.com/
back in 1983 someone very close to me right now attended a dinner at roy cohn's house on east 68 street. there were 12 guests, another guest was senator jesse helms. that was a very weird place to find myself. it was one of the anti-communist dinners. after dinner there was singing around the piano and roy leading with songs like god bless america.
I've posted to my blog an MP3 of a swing-choral number I wrote in '93 about Helms.
Go listen.
And cackle visciously.
Well I have to admit that my first thought when I saw the report on the NYTimes on the web was "Ding-Dong", but I see that several hundred queens have already beaten me to it... 
So I'll just say that today truly IS independence day - we're FREE of this little bastard!
I'm glad Harcourt and ED and others (?) mentioned that Jefferson and Adams both died on the same day - July 4, 1826. I've been going through the Monticello website -
http://www.monticello.org/
in my own little tribute to the day... It's got a great CAD-like "Monticello Explorer" feature, with all kinds cool stuff. Amazing 3-D tours of the House and a really slick interactive chronoligical tour of the plantation itself. Some of you History People (like me) might want to check it out. Think about worthwhile people like Jefferson instead of Jessie Helms!
For politicians, there is no better day to die. He must have held on just long enough. For us, it would be like dying on Halloween, is suppose.
As to those who kept voting for Jesse:
When asked why, they would reply, "At least we know where he stands."
To which I would respond, "Yeah, and we knew where Hitler stood. What's your point?"
Here's what Liddy Dole said today, as quoted in The News & Observer of Raleigh:
When Helms wrote the book "Where I Stand," Dole and her husband joked that the book was unnecessary: Everyone knew where Jesse stood.
"My husband said you never had to look underneath the table to see find Jesse Helms," she said. "Whether you agreed with him or not, he was a man of his word and his word was his bond."
Jesse,Christ there's a God!
Does anyone think maybe he was helped along by somebody whispering in his ear, "The Next President of The United States, Barack Obama"?
Proving the old adage that "only the good die young...". Hell is a cripier place today with Jesse's tired old ass thrown as kindling to the flames".
Good riddance to bad rubbish!
If you haven't seen it, you can learn about John Adams and Thomas Jefferon's relationship by watching the John Adams miniseries..Netflix or Amazon
I'm not sure he was an embarrassment to NC. They kept electing him time after time. Thank God you got out.
I had disagreements with the late Senator, especially over the immoderate ways he put things! That said, the Dems still have ex-Klansmen in Congress and Jew-haters also. Not defending homophobia, but remember that the American Left isn't immune to this either! CB in Ca
I'm committing sodomy tonight in his honor.
For those who think we're mean and bitter, please put yourself in the position we were in during the AIDS crisis, when this man was celebrating the death of homosexuals. I smiled politely when Reagan died, and I do try not to speak ill of the dead. But this man was a long national nightmare.
Why is everyone forgetting Helms's enthusiastic support for Pinochet and the death squads of Argentina? If someone was dying or oppressed, Jesse was usually happy.
About fucking time.
So many comments for a holiday. I'm in unpacking mode, with breaks for the computer, myself.
I'm reminded of what Red Skelton supposedly said at the well attended funeral of the much reviled Hollywood mogul Harry Cohn, "Give the people what they want and they'll tun out every time".
Having lived through his evil regime in NC, I can't say that I'm the least bit sad though I am loathe to wish anyone ill. On the good side, his extremism motivated thousands of Live-and-let-live-ers to have their voice heard over his crushing, life-denying messages.
Hmm no tears.. imagine that
May the 4th be with you
Based on a great post by Kitchenbeard I'm going to donate to the NAACP, the Victory Fund and any number of AIDS charities...IN HIS NAME. "Donated on behalf of Jesse Helms".
When he gets to the River Styx, he's going to meet Jerry Falwell who'll still be waiting on the bank, and like Beetlejuice the number they took at the Death Deli Counter is 2,436,785, and the sign says: "Now serving: 3".
Mediamutt and Kitchenbeard, that is an excellent suggestion. I'm still drinking pink champagne (no apologies) but taking a positive step to commemorate his death is an excellent thing to do.
I just gave two hundred to an exceptionally good AIDS charity today (dignitasinternational.org), but after my next pay cheque I think I'll do the same.
We'll all know why we celebrate The Fourth from now on.
"Rad fags and artists should attend his funeral and the guys can pull a mass Piss Christ and urinate all over [his headstone]..."
You're equating him with Christ? Please reconsider.
How can they tell?
"One should never speak bad of the dead...only good. Jesse Helms is dead. Good!"
Bette Davis on learning of Joan Crawford's death.
I would love to be the fly on the wall when he has to show up at the pearly gates and is denied entry. What a hate filled human being (I know that's stretching it) he was.
He'd thankfully been irrelevant for awhile, but let's not forget that his "reign" says/said an AWWWWFUL lot about the good folks of NC. Any who voted for him are just as guilty in my opinion, and an example of why I have a deep bias against many Suth-uh-nuhs.
Joe (Another One)
Well I suppose it's a fitting tribute to Jesse Helms, using an idiotic generalization to justify hating a whole group of people. Helms is dead, but prejudice lives on.
JMG: I feel compelled to note that Helms won all his terms by bare majorities. I think his greatest margin was 55%.
I'd love to go to his funeral so I could spit on his rotting corpse. Human excrement, vile, disgusting, hateful. Yes, I do hope he is burning in hell. I spent the first 23 years of my life in North Carolina and he was one of the reasons I felt that I could not stay in that state. I swore I would not set foot in NC until he was dead and in hell. Maybe now I'll go back for visit (but probably not).
"Senator Helms certainly was no bigot," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday.
Apparently republicans have a different definition of "bigot" than I do.
.
He was just plain evil... Someone must have dumped a bucket of water on him and he melted. Now we just need to round up his republican winged monkeys.
You're equating him with Christ? Please reconsider.
Biblesnaq
Piss Christ and Helms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ
Was his death painful?
I hope so :D
Joe (AO) please note that according to Census data NC is 21% African American. Many, many people were not fans of Senator Helms.
I said 'many' southerners, Steven, not all, and I said I had a bias against them, not that I hate them. I'm sorry if you or JMG feel defensive, but it's cold comfort if "only" 55% elected such a vile person for 25+ years. I'll stand by my main point, which was that ANYone who VOTED for Helms is just as complicit in his crimes. Who gives haters like him their power and position?
To my mind, the best thing about Helms' death is that no one will replace him in the fight to which he devoted his life. He was on the losing side of history, and I hope his mind was sharp enough towards the end to realize that.
And that means we are winning, despite his best and most evil efforts.
And Joe, thanks so much for showing the footage of the TAG action. Oh my Lord that takes me back. Although technically, I believe that TAG had split from ACT UP at that point.
Sad that poor Bozo the clown died yesterday, the children will miss him.
Today, some other clown died too.
Oh dear (wrings hands) Here I am, a "Suth-uh-nuh" - and it's dinner time and I seem to be out of both dirt *and* corn-pone. What to do!? It's most vexing, 'deed it is.
I suppose I *could* simply drive to the grocery store, but since this is the South, (a) I can't drive because I'm too stupid, and (b) since this *is* the South, the best I can hope for is to hitch the mule up to the buggy and make the 15 mile (each way) trip to the Plantation Commissary and hope that Massa' will let me borrie against next years crops.
Oh Lawd! If I only lived up Nawth, all the smart folks up there would make life SO much easier!
Yippee!!! One less RepubliKKKan!!
I hope someone uses his corpse to develop a vaccine that can be used to help eradicate this disease that has been festering for 86 years in NC and Washington.
The true definition of "The Ugly American", this hideous scum should spend eternity being buggered by those for whom he had such disdain.
Now, if "God" would only terminate the child-rape and racism apologist/Hitler Youth alumnus at the Holy See, then maybe, just maybe, I'd become a believer.
Now can we get the HIV+ Travel Ban removed?
I'm usually rather unexcited by Independence Day. Now, I have a reason to celebrate it, year after year.
I had to check in this morning to see if he's still dead. And he IS!!! Happy day!
even a bad man feels his own death as keenly as a good man.
better the devil you know...
as least you knew where he stood on the issues of the day
not like the grey slime that is at the capital today - platitudes from their mouths but their actions stab in the back
i just hope his views are truly fading away and being discarded by enlightened minds
Wow, what a great birthday present for the USA!!
I said 'many' southerners, Steven, not all, and I said I had a bias against them, not that I hate them. I'm sorry if you or JMG feel defensive, but it's cold comfort if "only" 55% elected such a vile person for 25+ years. I'll stand by my main point, which was that ANYone who VOTED for Helms is just as complicit in his crimes. Who gives haters like him their power and position?
Joe (Another One)
You didn't say that you're angry with people who voted for Helms, you said that you had a "deep bias against many Suth-uh-nuhs." My dictionary says bias means prejudice. Moral outrage is one thing; prejudice is another. And making fun of someone's accent is just childish.
I don't feel defensive -- I'm not Southern. I just want you to take a look at what you said and how you said it.
So is anybody going to the "Jesse Helms Remembrance Book" and posting what you remember Jesse about the best for? You'll have to be sneaky since they're editing it. But so far they've gotten one up there from 'Willie Horton' that says "RIP Senator Helms. Let us celebrate this great day with fireworks and barbecuing."
Mine didn't get in, but then again "Rot in Hell, Asshole" isn't exactly subtle.
I'm always happy to hear someone like him dies. (sorry) But at the same time there are so many more out there.
I hate to dance on anyone's grave....but Mr. Helms has earned the contept of everyone of color and gay men and women everywhere. This "man" has produced more hate in recent history than I can remember. Hope he likes the heat....
Re: Upthread, all the "Southern" stuff. For one thing, unless Helms suddenly gained popularity among African-Americans, he would have probably gotten 60+% majorities among whites. That, of course, means that many, but not most whites probably saw him for what he was. One reason he did well was that 70+% of his campaign dollars came from other states, so some of the blame needs to shared.
I'm originally from Ohio which has produced a string of disappointing presidents (think Grant, McKinley, and Harding for starters), awful governors (like the last one, Taft), and some fairly retrograde Senators (Robert Taft I, the isolationist), and more than a few bigots (the often sainted Dennis Kucinich started as a racebaiting city councilman), but we never elected someone like Helms. Wisconsin gave the world Joe McCarthy, but also William Proxmire. The Klan used to run Indiana, which is functionally a Southern state and some fairly awful people have come out of prairie populism, esp. in ex-slave states like Kansas, and one can't forget that Ornage County, California gave us Nixon and Reagan (only Nixon was native, but the money and influence for both came from there).
The South has a dishonor roll of people like Thurmond (was elected well into the "modern" era), Tallmadge, Bankhead, etc. Carter has been succeeded by a succession of dreadful governors of both parties in Georgia. There are plenty of bigots to go around, but some get passed it (Kucinich, as far as I can tell) and, unfortunately, the ones who've done the most damage have tended to be in the South, in part because they get re-elected. Blame needs to be shared, but unfortunately a disproportionate amount falls on the mass of White voters of the "Deep South".
I STILL want to dance at his funeral. Love to love ya, baby!
as a southerner, i must say that the majority of the south is infected with the evangelicalism virus, a deadly toxic plague which has infected the midwest and the west as well.
The South has a dishonor roll of people like Thurmond (was elected well into the "modern" era), Tallmadge, Bankhead, etc. ... the ones who've done the most damage have tended to be in the South, in part because they get re-elected.
--Rich
North Carolina also produced John Edwards, and is also home to his Center on Poverty. North Carolina also produce Sam Ervin, one of the key figures on the Senate Watergate Committee. North Carolina also produced Jim Hunt and Harvey Gant, two candidates who came *damn* close to unseating Jesse.
Helms was not just an individual. There was a whole political machine behind him, making sure he stayed in office. Making sure that letters went out to poor black people telling them that it might be against the law for them to vote, and they might get arrested if they tried to vote. Making sure that Jim Hunt was painted as the "special interest" candidate (more pot-v-kettle politics). Making sure that people who were likely to vote against him were intimidated into staying away from the polls.
What you are saying about Helms and NC is *exactly* the same thing that many Europeans have been saying about Bush and the US for the last eight years: "Enough of you voted for him to put him into office. And to re-elect him. That says all I need to know about your country as a whole."
Would you, could you listen to that and not have any faint twinge of a desire to say, "But that's *SO* not the whole story, that's so simplistic as to be potentially misleading"?
I laughed most of the afternoon at the thought of Helms showing up at the gates of heaven thinking he's going to get let in through the pearly gates with much fanfare. As soon as he opens his mouth, St. Peter calls over all the other saints for a "come here guys, you not going to believe this" moment. As Helms is trying desperately to bargain for his soul, the saints are roaring with laughter. The crowd turns ugly when the saints become bored with Helms' comedy routine and begin to throw tubes of lube at him in preparation for his new gig as Satan's concubine.
We just have to pray he stays dead. As long as they sever his head and stuff his mouth with garlic, we may be safe.
All I can say is WOOHOO!
Everyone dies, folks. Joe will die, I will die and you all will die at some point. And someone will probably celebrate that fact as others mourn it.
Okay, here's my celebratory statement, which I made (in other venues) when Jerry Falwell died -- and will repeat at whatever point the planet is well rid of Pat Robertson:
The world is a poorer and meaner place for Jesse Helms having lived.
Can't think of a stronger condemnation of someone's life than that.
When trashing the South you might want to remember a few of the following people:
George Washington - one of the men without whom the United States wouldn't exist - was Southern. With Southern Accent. A deep Virginia Accent. A Suth-uh-nuh.
As was Thomas Jefferson. And James Madison. And James Monroe (all from Virginia). And Andrew Jackson (Tennessee). And William Henry Harrison (Virginia). James K. Polk was a Tennessean. Zachary Taylor was a Virginian who owned a plantation in Louisiana. Andrew Johnson, from Tennessee, had the unenviable job of following Lincoln.
Theodore Roosevelt's mother was from Roswell, Georgia - Teddy credited her with forming his character. Woodrow Wilson was from Virginia and practiced law in Atlanta, before he became president of Princeton University.
Lyndon Johnson, who was somewhat crazy, was from Texas - which is *somewhat* Southern... and somewhat crazy. Still, LBJ did more for Civil Rights than anyone since the Civil War.
Jimmy Carter of course was from Georgia - an extremely smart man, but perhaps not the best politician. Most of the rest of the nation was too stupid to listen because of the way he talked. Your gas would be cheaper now if we had.
And good'ole Bill Clinton from Arkansas... Gave us 8 years of peace and prosperity - *and* entertainment!
George Dubya Bush is NOT a Southerner - he just plays one on TV.
The South is a VERY complex place and it often confuses outsiders. Jessie Helms was a product of the South of the 1st half of the 20th. century. The South was still essentially in the Post Civil War era until about 1950 or so. Still reeling and recovering from the crushing defeat of that war. There is no way you can understand Jessie Helms or Strom Thurmond or George Wallace or any other the other arch segragationists without understanding the world they came from.
People like Bill Clinton are the product of the South of the *second* half of the 20th century - and that is a different place altogether.
@JinNA:
Bien Fait Kiddo!!
Let's just be honest about the American South, ok?
There's a LOT of ignorant bigotry to be found there. Racism, homophobia, hatred of strong women - it flourishes like kudzu.
There is also a proud tradition of liberalism - a live and let live attitude, and a racial harmony that should be encouraged.
Gross generalizations are just that - gross, and I am as guilty of them as any proud New Englander is about the South. So, for the rest of you - for every Richmond, there is a Williamsburg. For every cracker town in Georgia, there is a Savannah. For every sterile exurb, there is an Athens.
I was glad that my rental car had a GPS the last time I went down South. But I was also glad that when I met some Southerners, I was able to speak with them like they were my neighbors.
Show some respect for your fellow Americans. Their history may include slaves and segregation, but the North is not immune from those things.
ok, john you should know that woodrow wilson was a huge bigot. it is a fact and has been written about a lot. every other word out of his mouth about black folks was Ni%%er.
Judging by some of the comments said about Mr. helms - you are no better than he was. If you don't have anything nice to say. Don't say anything at all.
Shame on you. Rise above.
Pete, good on you for taking the high road, but I feel I have some bad news for you. You try to shame me...yet, strangely, even in the face of your obvious moral superiority, sterling character and smug righteousness...I DON'T feel shamed...what do you know about that?
A special little note to the deceased: “Hey, Jesse…I’m THRILLED that you’re dead, dead, dead, you miserable, old, evil bastard. I hope you felt at least some of the pain and terror that you helped cultivate in your fellow man, these many, many, many (far too many) years. I don’t offer my condolences to those you left behind. I offer my congratulations on out-lasting and escaping your malignant, loathsome presence. Surely living with you must have had the most toxic effect on the brightest and strongest of spirits. I hope they all go out and get drunk and laid…preferably with same-sex partners of any of the many minorities that you so hated and feared. The world you fought so hard to maintain is dying with you, you know…I like to think you realized that as well, before you wizened, old corpse finally gasped its last, sour breath.
There…I feel better…and still completely shameless…
I'm waiting for some Gay Patriot blogger to defend Helms, like they do with every other horrible Republican. Surely one could contrast Helm's evil but at least consistent gay politics with the Democrats' flip-flopping? And there must be some way to argue that Clinton was in fact far worse for gays than Helms ever was, no?
On this momentous occasion, let's hear some good bullshit from our ever-reliable gay fifth columnists!
All you “Civil War Re-Enactors” here make me laugh.
“The South is icky and has cooties!”
“Nuh-uh! The South is super cool!”
You do realize the futility about arguing the comparative ethical, intellectual and spiritual qualities of ANY geographical region, don’t you? ALL regions are inhabited by human beings…so you’ll find evil and ignorance everywhere. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a spark of value, something beautiful and worthy in amongst all the crap…but it doesn’t really matter which crap pile you’re looking through.
"Judging by some of the comments said about Mr. helms - you are no better than he was. If you don't have anything nice to say. Don't say anything at all. Shame on you. Rise above. Pete McRod"
Judging by some of the comments from 1946 said about Mr. Adolph Hitler - they were no better than he was. If they didn't have anything nice...
CUT THE SACCHARINE AND GET REAL.
I thought I smelled bacon.
I thought I smelled bacon.
excellent!
Jesse Helms has passed on! Jesse is no more! Jesse has ceased to be! Jesse has expired and gone to meet his maker! Jesse's a stiff! Bereft of life, Jesse rests in peace! Jesse is pushing up daisies! His metabolic processes are now history! Jesse is off the twig! Jesse's kicked the bucket, Jesse's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-REPUBLICAN!
(Thank You Monty Python)
and Thank You Jeebus that I have outlived that waste of oxygen!
He's DEAD! (giggling)
_Dale
@jgs: Merci! (I think...)
@motordog: "“The South is icky and has cooties!”
“Nuh-uh! The South is super cool!”
True, All true. Both.
As to knowing a book by its cover - I can tell you about my Mom. She's a quintessential "old school" Southern Lady. She sounds like a female William F. Buckley. Nevah has pronounced an *aah* ("r") at the end of a word in her life. She grew up with Black servants in the house - and in a style that pretty much no longer exists. Her brother-in-law was a "reform" (wasn't on the take...) Governor of Louisiana, back in the segregated 1950's. Mom is also a card-carrying member of the ACLU and plans to vote for Barack Obama. And she loves her gay son. And once when she caught me with a joint, she lit one up to see what all the fuss was about.
That's the South. We're tradition bound, we're crazy, but we mean well.
About time he kicked the bucket.
JinNO...Bien Sur! (and not the burning resort!lol)