Farewell, Jesse Helms
Join former United States Senate Pages Dylan and Ethan Ris as they bring you the dish on not just the presidential race but all the exciting triumphs and disgraces inside, outside, and below the Beltway!
Dead and Bloated! Sons and daughters of the Confederacy, the final curtain has fallen on the minstrel show that was the life of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC)! Before he died last Friday, the fiery Southerner was a legend of social conservatism and race-baiting, wielding great power from the Senate seat he won by making fun of his opponent's name in 1972.
It would be too difficult to sum up Helms in just one word -- Roget's Thesaurus alone lists eight synonyms for "bigot" -- so instead let's look back at highlights from Helms' life and career:
* Practiced nonviolent resistance as an advocate for immigrants' rights in South Africa.
* Staged public fasts to protest political injustice.
* Chaired the Indian National Congress, urging acts of civil disobedience as means of gaining freedom from Britain.
Oh wait. Those were highlights from Gandhi's life and career! Here are Helms':
* Said of Civil Rights protests: "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights."
* Forged personal alliances with Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Salvadoran death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson.
* Tried repeatedly to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts.
* Attempted to make African-American Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) cry by singing "Dixie" repeatedly while in an elevator with her.
* Led a failed filibuster against the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
* Announced in 1994 that if then-President Bill Clinton were to visit North Carolina, "He better have a bodyguard."
The Wall Street Journal declared "Jesse Helms himself was no racist," in their tearful eulogy last Saturday, which was the equivalent of Playboy magazine claiming Wilt Chamberlain was a virgin. Still, the Pages will miss Helms' presence in the U.S. Capitol, cruising the halls in a motorized wheelchair, scowling at the doodles and Chinamen along the way.
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Roast in Hell Jesse.
at least he stood for what he believed unlike you libs that love people like robert byrd (mr. kkk). guess you guys can't see the forest for the trees or maybe your all just dumb asses.
good riddance.
The generations change and the may their hate and prejudice be buried with them.
While the things he did are undeniably crude and offensive, I somehow doubt that the thing to do is to sink to his level by making fun of a dead person... c'mon folks. He's dead now, while he had no consideration for other people's feelings, maybe we should prove to be the bigger people and simply have respect for the dead and let it be at that.
I can't wait to go to his grave and plop a fat steamer on his stone. Hopefully all you sister-banging redneck conservatives can take the hint and off yourselves so the average IQ here in the states can rise into the triple digits finally.
good riddance to the fat fcuk
The bigger the sodden TV weep-fest upon a public figure's death, the greater his actual crimes must have been while still alive.
This epitomizes the overwhelmingly brilliant technique of The Big Lie, popularized by our beloved 37th president, Richard Milhous Nixon -- a man whose greatness still lives among those of us who (sob) will always adore him!
People love to hate on you when you are right. Long live Jesse!!!!
I think Straum Thurmond takes the icing on the cake for being a bigger bigot in the Capitol. The scary part is that voters elected this man and they are still voting.