I’m going to wager that no story will draw as much ire from progressive bloggers and MSM pundits as the news that former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms has died at the age of 86.
Helms was certainly a polarizing figure even before he joined Congress. He was a starwart defender of the tobacco industry, a pure Republican partisan, and a crusader against what he saw as the moral decay caused by liberalism. He was also a man of his times who opposed integration in North Carolina in the 1950s.
What he will get little credit for, however, is the sea change he wrought on the politics of his state. Before he took office, North Carolina was dominated by Democratic politics. His actions in public service helped change that to the point where, today, North Carolina is a competetive state that tends to swing Republican.
Most folks, I suspect, will also not credit him for his stance for human rights around the world. He caught large amounts of flak for time and again voting against granting Most Favored Nation trading status to China because of its reprehensible human rights record. In the 1980s, he was one of the most vocal against the forced labor camps of the Soviet Union. There are undoubtedly people living free lives today because of the great influence Jesse Helms had on American foreign policy.
In fact, his influence was so great that Bono asked him to help the rock star’s humanitarian efforts. Helms dove in and was one of the main reasons Congress passed an unprecedented humanitarian bill for Africa that pledged some $200 million to fight AIDS. Helms and Bono actually forged an improbable friendship that’s done a lot of good in the world.
I doubt that many will mention that side of Jesse Helms, which strikes me as unfair. For all his flaws, and he had many, Helms was not an evil man. I hope that he is shown the dignity in death that he earned in his life.
Tags: In Memoriam, Republicans
Wow, I honestly did not know that Helms was not a complete douche, so thanks for revealing his stance on Human Rights, because he should be commended for that.
Always best, I’ve found, to learn a little bit about someone before you go off half-cocked, right?
Then again, I may just be one of those free speech-squelching conservatives or something.
J: “I hope that he is shown the dignity in death that he earned in his life.”
Since you couldn’t stop yourself from kicking Teddy Kennedy when he was down, you have a lot of nerve expecting more restraint from us now.
Three musical responses:
Loudon Wainwright III
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcOpa4aHcSY
Todd Rundgren
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7HqqrvMQjg
http://www.asklyrics.com/displ.....183717.htm
MC Hawking
http://www.supload.com/music/M.....ED61P.html
spoots, you’re lying about me and I don’t appreciate it. I did not kick Senator Kennedy at all. I said that I didn’t feel sad that he was ill. I didn’t cheer. I didn’t feel even a hint of gladness and I didn’t encourage anyone else to do so either. In fact, I lamented that I didn’t feel anything toward him.
Your accusation is insulting.