Racist Senator Helms Dead at 86

[Nonno]

RIP another racist!

Racist, homophobe Jesse Helms is dead

 

[RadioPatrol]

Alright ............. Go Jessie:

ANOTHER NOTE FROM JOHN: AP could only find one negative quote that Helms made? They're making him sound like Garrison Keillor.

One of the most hateful men in American politics is dead:

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican who became an icon to conservatives, died Friday at the age of 86, a senior congressional source told CNN.

Can't even begin to think of anything nice to say about this guy -- but a lot of other people will start praising Helms as if none of the hateful stuff matters. The hateful stuff matters. Let's reminisce on the life of one of America's biggest bigots who ruined the lives of so many.

Jesse Helms on "negroes":

As an aide to the 1950 Senate campaign of North Carolina Republican candidate Willis Smith, Helms reportedly helped create attack ads against Smith's opponent, including one which 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." Another ad featured photographs Helms himself had doctored to illustrate the allegation that Graham's wife had danced with a black man. (The News and Observer, 8/26/01; The New Republic, 6/19/95; The Observer, 5/5/96; Hard Right: The Rise of Jesse Helms, by Ernest B. Furgurson, Norton, 1986)

The University of North Carolina was "the University of Negroes and Communists." (Capital Times, 11/22/94) Black civil rights activists were "Communists and sex perverts." (Copley News Service, 8/23/01)

Of civil rights protests Helms wrote, "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." (WRAL-TV commentary, 1963) He also wrote, "Crime rates and irresponsibility among Negroes are a fact of life which must be faced." (New York Times, 2/8/81)

Helms on "degenerate, weak, sick homosexuals":

Over the years Helms has declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches." (Newsweek, 12/5/94) In a tirade highlighting his routine opposition to AIDS research funding, Helms lashed out at the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988: "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." (States News Service, 5/17/88)

Helms being a racist:

And the man ABC News now describes as a "conservative icon" (8/22/01) in 1993 sang "Dixie" in an elevator to Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, bragging, "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries." (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/5/93)

Helms filibusters making Martin Luther King day a national holiday:

A year before the election, when public polls showed Helms trailing by 20 points, he launched a Senate filibuster against the bill making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. (David Broder, Washington Post, Aug, 29, 2001)

On cutting AIDS funding:

Sen. Jesse Helms says the government should spend less money on people with AIDS because they got sick as a result of "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct," The New York Times reported Wednesday....

"We've got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts," Helms told the Times.

And before anyone says that Helms came around on AIDS in his later years. No he didn't. He came around on AIDS in Africa. Still didn't want to help Americans with AIDS because, you know, they were homersexuals.

Labels: jesse helms

 

[aps45819]

Helms on "degenerate, weak, sick homosexuals":
Over the years Helms has declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches."

Doesen't sound like he afraid of queers, just disgusted by their behavior.

 

[tiny_dancer33]

I think he deserves some kind of epic d-bag award. Oh wait, don't speak ill of the dead. Darn.

...Aah, screw it. I don't understand how people like this ever got elected. And ABC called him a "bastion of conservatism"? That's just embarrassing for conservatives, IMHO. Good riddance.

 

[vraiblonde]

They kept calling him a "conservative icon" on the radio. I was like, he is? *MY* conservative icon is Ronald Reagan, not Jesse Helms.

And I'll be curious, when Robert Byrd dies, how many eulogies will mention his KKK membership and call *him* a racist.

 

[ImnoMensa]

I only hope whoever wrote this writes "Murdering Senator Dies "when Ted Kennedy checks out. How about Ciger Screwing ,Masturbating, Lying Sack of Crap ex-President Dies " when Clinton goes.

 

[tiny_dancer33]

I only hope whoever wrote this writes "Murdering Senator Dies "when Ted Kennedy checks out. How about Ciger Screwing ,Masturbating, Lying Sack of Crap ex-President Dies " when Clinton goes.

Well, I guess it depends which you think is worse for a political figure, lying about being really horny all the time or saying that everyone who has AIDS deserves to die.

 

[toppick08]

Anybody offended ?

........

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

........

Nope.

I don't think the Confederate Flag is a symbol of racism.

 

[tiny_dancer33]

Nope.

I don't think the Confederate Flag is a symbol of racism.

But it doesn't really have to do with the thread...heh. You pot-stirrers, you.

Anyway, Helms supported Pinochet, if I'm not mistaken. That's pretty bad right there.

 

[bcp]

now as soon as the other big racists are gone we can get on with the business of running this country.

to mind comes
jessie jackass
Al Sharptounge
Baroke Obama

just to name a couple.

 

[Kerad]

And America celebrates with an official holiday and fireworks for all!!!!!!



No way this is coincidence.

 

[Bann]

Gee, amazing how the left always wants to re-write history. He was could be a polarizing figure, to be sure. But there was a lot more to him than what the lamestream media is putting out. I didn't realize his connection with Reagan, for instance.

Here's the story I posted under News & Current Events This was the story posted on WRAL in Raleigh this morning after the news first broke -

Helms served five terms in the U.S. Senate, retiring in 2003 because of his faltering health. During his 30 years in Capitol Hill, the North Carolina Republican became a powerful voice for a conservative movement that was growing both in Congress and across the country, and he used his position to speak out against issues like gay rights, federal funding for the arts and U.S. foreign aid.

"I had sought election in 1972 to try to derail the freight train of liberalism that was gaining speed toward its destination of government-run everything, paid for with big tax bills and record debt," Helms wrote in his 2005 memoir, "Here's Where I Stand."

"My goal, when my wife, Dot, and I decided I would run, was to stick to my principles and stand up for conservative ideals."

Building a base

Helms got his first taste of life in Washington, D.C., in 1950, when he worked on the U.S. Senate campaign of segregationist Democratic candidate Willis Smith against the more moderate Frank Porter Graham and served as Smith's assistant after the election. But when Smith died three years later, Helms returned to Raleigh and became executive director of the North Carolina Bankers Association. He won his first public office in 1957, serving one term on the Raleigh City Council, where he became known as a feisty and tight-fisted budget guardian.

In 1960, he moved to the executive offices of Capitol Broadcasting Co., the parent of WRAL, and he developed a strong following across eastern North Carolina over the next decade by appearing in editorials that ran at the end of each night's evening newscast. The editorials blended folksy anecdotes with conservative viewpoints that blasted the federal government, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and other entities he viewed as too liberal. In one noted editorial, he suggested building a wall around the UNC campus, which he called the "University of Negroes and Communists," so that its liberal sentiments could be contained.

Using the name recognition and conservative base he built through the on-air editorials, Helms ran for the U.S. Senate in 1972. He had switched to the Republican Party two years earlier out of frustration with the Democratic Party's stance on civil rights, and President Richard Nixon's landslide win helped propel him to a victory over Congressman Nick Galifianakis of Durham, making Helms the first Republican senator from North Carolina in the 20th century.

Divisive politics

His views on race relations – he opposed a national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., led a filibuster against the extension of the Voting Rights Act and called some young blacks "Negro hoodlums" – and social issues sharply divided the public into those who viewed him as a champion of the common man and those who thought of him as a narrow-minded bigot.
...
Helms acknowledged his polarizing character, saying famed ventriloquist dummy Mortimer Snerd could run as the Democratic candidate for Senate against him and garner 45 percent of the vote.

"I wasn't interested in a popularity contest and surely didn't care about anything the big newspapers called me," he said. "I saw how they constantly ridiculed conservative ideas and conservative people."

Move to the right

Helms' role as standard bearer for the conservative movement is his most lasting legacy in state and national politics. His switch to the Republican Party in 1970 paved the way for many politicians across North Carolina to follow suit, eventually ending decades of one-party control in state and local government.
...

"We'll never forget how he battled, especially during those first lonely years, to protect our liberties, preserve our family values and keep America strong. There he was, standing day after day to a government Goliath, crying out like a voice in the wilderness," former President Ronald Reagan said in a 1983 speech. "Bit by bit, he became more than a lonely crusader. He grew into a lionhearted leader of a great and growing army."

Many political observers credit Helms' support for catapulting Reagan to the presidency in 1980 and accelerating the conservative agenda – cutting taxes at home, fighting communism abroad and opposing many government social programs – at the national level. He also served as Reagan's right flank for years, allowing the president to make political compromises as needed. "(I decided to) stay to the right of the president's right and make it easier for Reagan to be Reagan," Helms wrote in his memoir.

Holding down the far right of U.S. politics made Helms a foil for the media and liberal activists in a growing culture war as the conservative movement expanded. He was so outspoken in his opposition to art he considered offensive, federal funding for AIDS research and women's issues like legalized abortion that he helped Democrats raise millions of dollars to support candidates who backed those causes.

"Most North Carolinians are not as conservative as Jesse Helms," state Sen. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, said in a 1995 interview. "But by presenting himself as a man of courage, willing to stand up against 'tax-and-spend liberals,' homosexuality and so forth, Helms commands respect."

"It has always been my contention," he wrote in his memoir, "that there is no sense in being in office if you don't have the courage to do what is right, even if it is the most unpopular position in the world."

 

[shiki]

RIP another racist!

Racist, homophobe Jesse Helms is dead

Amen Hallelujah! Another one bites the dust.

 

[itsbob]

"It has always been my contention," he wrote in his memoir, "that there is no sense in being in office if you don't have the courage to do what is right, even if it is the most unpopular position in the world."

No wonder the democrats hated him so..

 

[Bann]

They kept calling him a "conservative icon" on the radio. I was like, he is? *MY* conservative icon is Ronald Reagan, not Jesse Helms.

And I'll be curious, when Robert Byrd dies, how many eulogies will mention his KKK membership and call *him* a racist.

I only hope whoever wrote this writes "Murdering Senator Dies "when Ted Kennedy checks out. How about Ciger Screwing ,Masturbating, Lying Sack of Crap ex-President Dies " when Clinton goes.

Yeah, right! When those 3 go, we'll be treated to never ending hero worship - it'll be worse than what happened at Senator Paul Wellstone's funeral.

 

[Kerad]

Yeah, right! When those 3 go, we'll be treated to never ending hero worship - it'll be worse than what happened at Senator Paul Wellstone's funeral.

Wah.

 

[Baja28]

Wah.

Face it, yall have some pretty lame heros to worship...

 

[Kerad]

Face it, yall have some pretty lame heros to worship...

I don't worship any politician.

I worship Batman, Han Solo, Captain Kirk, and hot women...and the hot womenz on teh internetz. And the mighty Mighty Pittsburgh Penguins.

....

...and wolves.




And alcohol.

...and Corvettes.

...and Metallica....


...and...................XBox 360.....and................


...birds of prey.....

and....................................................................................

 

[tiny_dancer33]

"It has always been my contention," he wrote in his memoir, "that there is no sense in being in office if you don't have the courage to do what is right, even if it is the most unpopular position in the world."

So...opposing blacks as members of American society (not crime among blacks, you understand, but blacks in general), proposing cutting of all AIDS research and support because everyone who gets AIDS must deserve it for sinning, and supporting f-ing Pinochet are the "right" things to do?



Blasting UNC for "being too liberal" and trying to oppose liberalism in government is one thing. Calling UNC a cesspool for Negroes and communists and trying to oppose blacks in government at all is quite another.

Sorry, but no matter how conservative you are I can't imagine trying to raise this guy up as a hero or some kind of conservative icon.