GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
I don’t know much about Jesse Helms. I joined the Republican Party long after Jesse Helms had been a significant figure.
He died today. On the leftist blogs you see the typical dancing on his grave. Apparently he was an entirely evil individual who had no redeeming qualities or an excuse for living. It’s still a bit seedy to me when people take the occasion of a politician’s death to curse them.
Now that I think about it my only memory of Jesse Helms was that he had been doing charity work with Bono (from U-2) in the last few years. Looking a little, I noticed that Jesse Helms played a pivotal role in Reagan’s rise to power in the GOP.
I want to send out condolences to his family. Regardless of the man’s life he was their loved one.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
When did you join the Republican party? Are you serious about leftist blogs dancing on his grave? Which ones? It’s not “a bit” seedy when people take the occasion of a politician’s death to curse them, it is “very” seedy. Liberals do not value life in the same way some conservatives do, however. Terri Schiavo is a good example of that. Helms did have some redeeming qualities. I don’t know whether he ever disavowed his racism, but he did many good things in his career and was important to Reagan’s rise to power. I recommend a book by Craig Shirley about the 1976 campaign. I think I heard something about Helms adopting a disabled child at one point.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Jesse Helms in context
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/07/020914.php
July 4th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I noticed dancing on his grave at MyDD, Daily Kos and Wonkette.
http://wonkette.com/400892/jesse-helms-finally-dead
That’s a representative sample of leftist cheering on death and cursing the deceased.
I became a Republican in 2002. I think Jesse Helms had retired by then.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Doug, were the Democrats as happy when Saddam Hussein died as they are now?
July 4th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
#4, they are happy about Helms dying, but they (and Obama) want Bin Laden to be protected by our Constitution after the McCain administration captures him.
Now that is ironic.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
No, Clarence. Many were actually angry that Iraqis were allowed to execute their former dictator.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Gamecock, I think that is a perfectly legitimate ad to run. Democrats are for affirmative action. Harvey Gantt was for affirmative action. There is nothing wrong with pointing that out. If Helms said, “Harvey Gantt is a bad guy because he’s black,” I would say the ad was racist. This ad was not racist but simply stating a fact. Helms may have been racist earlier in his career, but that ad is totally reasonable as far as I’m concerned. A liberal New Hampshire blog is attacking our senator, Judd Gregg, because he made a nice comment about Helms when Helms retired from the Senate in 2002. I’m not going to mention the name of the site because I don’t care to give them any publicity, but Doug is right that they’re doing it. They never cease to amaze me. I don’t recall conservative blogs cheering when liberals get sick or die. They don’t even cheer when someone loses. Many started to feel sorry for Hillary after she lost.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
No Doug, because Obama and the Dems are against the death penalty. Now, if they had proof Saddam approved wire tapping on terrorists, then the Dems would have okay the death penalty.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Doug, they do hate Helms more than they hated Saddam, and they hate Bush more than they hated Saddam also. I don’t think Saddam should have been executed either but should have been imprisoned because I oppose the death penalty and am pro-life in all circumstances, but I can’t say I felt sorry when he died, and I did not feel sorry when Timothy McVeigh died either.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Kristofer, some Republicans are against the death penalty too. I don’t want to debate that though, I’m just saying that many liberals hate Jesse Helms and George Bush more than they hate dictators.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Clarence, I was being sacastic.
I agree with your second point, that is what I was trying to say.
Behind the scene’s, Helms was one of the big players to move the GOP to the right.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Do you guys see the difference between how conservative blogs acted when Ted Kennedy got cancer compared with how liberal blogs are acting today?
July 4th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
I just researched it. This evil man with no redeeming qualities adopted a nine year old orphan with cerebral palsy after reading that the boy wanted a mother and father for Christmas.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
As Joe Lieberman says, the Dems/Liberals have become hyperpartisan. There is an anger to their message and actions that we have not seen before. It has been fueled by Move-on and specifically the anti-Petraeus ad in the times. That was the breaking point.
If anyone is doubting their vote in the fall for McCain, think about how the Dems are going to govern our country. If they gain control of all three branches of government, they will do everything to destroy their opposition, and change the culture of our nation and it’s institutions.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Jesse Helms was also one of only three U.S. senators to vote against both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Breyer. The other two senators were another great American, former New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith, and Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
The left did this when Jerry Falwell died too I remember.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Kristofer,
Actually, Obama does support the death penalty, as do Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Ever since Dukakis committed political suicide 20 years ago by saying he’d oppose the death penalty even if his own wife were raped and murdered, the Dems have taken a pro-capital punishment stance to shield themselves from the charge of being weak on crime.
In 1997, as a freshly-elected Illinois state senator, Obama voted to expand the death penalty to include the murderers of senior citizens or the disabled.
Obama wrote in his recent memoir that he thinks the death penalty “does little to deter crime,” but supports capital punishment in cases “so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment.”
Obama criticized the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning the death penalty for a child rapist: “I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes. I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime, and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances, the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that that does not violate our Constitution.”
July 4th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
What a way to spoil my Fourth. And this year it was nice; almost no mosquitoes. I read through some of the comments on the liberal blogs and the utter hatred is repulsive. Yeah, he did some questionable things, but when people talk about road trips to piss on his grave, that’s a little beyond the line. But when saintly Teddy gets ill, Washington has to stop and pay homage to a drunk/woman killer.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:07 am
#17 Aron,
As I said to CC,
Kristofer Says:
July 4th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Clarence, I was being sacastic.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:09 am
IR-MN, someone posted on another blog that Palin may be going to DC to take the ANWR fight to Congress. If the quote was accurate, she did not sound polite about it.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Aron, I can’t believe there is one issue where I am to the left of Obama! As to Helms, it is fitting that a great American like him would die on the fourth of July. Liberals are just angry because he always fought them, and he usually beat them! Helms’s story about adoption reminds me of Cindy McCain adopting one of the children at an orphanage run by Mother Theresa. IR-MN, what happened at Chappaquiddick was inexcusable, but Ted Kennedy was also a man who stood up for what he believed in, was sometimes right, and did a lot of good for this country as well.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I know Kristofer was being sarcastic, but Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Al Gore, and Bill Clinton all know deep down that the death penalty isn’t right, but they support it because they form their positions based on polling data and not based on what is right. I leave John Kerry out because he did consistently oppose the death penalty.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Kris, seems to me to be a little presumptuous, but it’ll get her name out there even more. Gas prices might be one of thee issues this year: an issue she’ll excel at. Did you see that intrade post on palin.blogspot. To me, that portents something positive. Clarence, I’m glad you’re consistently pro-life. I am too.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:28 am
On second thought, that does tell me she’s seriously playing for the VP spot.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:29 am
#22, Gore was pro-life until 1990.
#23, Yes, I was shocked at the intrade numbers…..I have been trying to locate a newscast I watched two months ago, which statted that most of the betting on intrade for POTUS, Dem VP and GOP VP actually come from DC (journalists, pundits, etc…). Anyway, my goal was to show that these gamblers are representative of the chattering class in DC, reflecting her legitimate rise on the VP list.
Maybe Aron has this newscast in his archives?
July 5th, 2008 at 1:15 am
24. Maybe, but perhaps she is ALSO zealously advocating for our state. Perhaps she sees high gas prices as a perfect opportunity to change Congress’ and public opinion about ANWR. She wouldn’t be an effective governor if she stood by and did nothing.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:25 am
#26, she is clearly trying to advocate for her state.
Gail, I watched the press conference with Ted Steven’s today. I was amazed that she would not answer a campaign question because she, “was on the clock”. I have never heard that from a Pol before. She has principal!
July 5th, 2008 at 3:10 am
The left did this when Jerry Falwell died too I remember.
Unsurprisingly, I was in this choir. Same with Helms. Good riddance.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Helms got communism right, and fought it every chance he got. For that, the country should be grateful. On the other hand, he spent the vast majority of his career playing to the racial and social prejudices of many of his constituents. Even if things like the anti-Gannt ad were not explicitly racist, people here are fooling themselves if they claim there were no anti-minority messages in them. Towards the end of his career, Helms lost influence, and seemed to realize that the times had passed him by. I was never a huge fan, and hope that nobody with Hems’ social views gains such power again, but I won’t dance on the grave of the old man.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:23 am
Pres. Clinton nominated Former republican Gov. William Weld as ambassador to Mexico. Who blocked his appointment? Jesse Helms.
#22 You take a lot on yourself by declaring politics to be the reason someone favors the death penalty. I happen to be pro-life (against abortion and the death penalty) but there are crimes that demand death. A little girl in Vermont was kidnapped and killed, all for the purpose of satisfying the sick sexual desires of an adult she knew and thought she could trust. That man must die. I don’t care if the state does it or his cellmate. Nature itself demands it.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:32 am
May GOD bless the helm family.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Sen. Helms was one of the last true republicans. He fought our enemies here and abroad without excuse. Most republicans in congress today are mere shadows of our leaders from the past, and I include Sen. McCain. Where Sen. Helms proudly opposed Ted Kennedy, McCain embraces him on immigration. Sen. Helms would have physically dragged disgraced homosexual Larry Craig out of the senate. Under McCain and McConnell he gets to serve out his term. Its a disgrace.
The name in the previous headline/title is grotesque and offensive.
July 5th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Agreed CC - Now, back then I was a dem and Gantt was a good dem, fairly conservative for a dem, but if the election were today, knowing all I know now, I would be for Helms.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Oh, there was a hatefest from some on the right when Ted Kennedy’s illness was announced. Not just bloggers, but remember what Michael Savage did?
Truth is, there are some on both sides who will take these opportunities to say hateful things. While I don’t think death should make someone immune from legitimate criticism or a whitewashing of the summation of the politician’s life, grave dancing on a political opponent is never desirous. Keep in mind, too, that in posting forums, there are those who will post things intending to make the other side look bad. Some of Kennedy’s political enemies said very kind things about him personally, and we have seen that with Helms as well. That is generally the case and the reaction of the majority: “even if I didn’t like the person and disagreed vehemently with his political positions, it was still a life and he has people who loved him and mourn his loss.”
It’s erroneous for either side to take a few comments and use them to label an entire group. If you search long enough for hateful comments you’ll surely find what you’re looking for, but I suspect you’ll find more people who don’t behave that way. For instance, I doubt that most on here agree with Michael Savage’s comments and I don’t attribute his behavior to a whole group of people.
I lived in NC while Helms was in office and did disagree with his racist pandering. However, I found his complete turnabout on AIDS while he worked with Bono a remarkably good thing and his admission that he was “so ashamed that I’ve done so little” to fight AIDS during his Senate career took a lot of guts. I absolutely believe he was sincere.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Hi moderators - what was so offensive about that comment?
July 5th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I always have a hard time when people like Helms pass away. I would never celebrate anyone’s death, but I don’t think it’s out of line to contextualize rememberances with frank evaluations of Helms’ absolutely repugnant, neanderthalic stances on race. I agree that his adoption of a child with cerebral palsy is generous and honorable, but he was also capable - and willing - of wearing his racism on his sleeve and inflaming racial resentment against African-Americans. There’s also the matter of his disgraceful, militant homophobia. I recognize that he did great things for our party, but I can’t help that think the talents of our party and the virtues of our principles are bountiful enough that we could have accomplished it all without the aid of a man so captive to his pettiest instincts.
I hope this doesn’t qualify as dancing on his grave; it’s certainly not intended to.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Doug’s posting: “Looking a little, I noticed that Jesse Helms played a pivotal role in Reagan’s rise to power in the GOP.”
Yes. Of course, Reagan was already a national GOP figure, but it was Helms and has unique and highly skilled organization that masterminded Reagan’s victory over Ford in the N.C. primary in 1976. The N.C. win, followed by Reagan’s landslide win in Texas, made him a credible candidate and positioned him to come within 67 votes of winning the nomination at the convention that year. It is clear that had Reagan not come that close, he probably would not have been nominated and elected in 1980. Read all about it in “Reagan’s Revolution” by Craig Shirley (published in 2005)–and excellent and accurate history of the epic 1976 Reagan-Ford nomination contest.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Everyone is complex but most of us do not live under a microscope. There are many people who share Helms’ views this very day and no one will know other than their family and friends. That is why I was a bit annoyed at the coverage of Tim Russert. NBC, and a lot of other news outlets, acted like the man was a saint. What I saw was a man who did a job, but what were his contributions to his community and society as a whole? I found his adoration rather grotesque.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
#15 GREAT POINT - The Orin Hatch GOP approach has always been wrong in affirming Dem scotus nominees THAT DO NOT AGREE TO UPHOLD THEIR OATH TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUITION, simply because “elections have consequences”.
July 5th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Axel, I wasn’t saying anyone who favors the death penalty was doing so for political purposes. I’m sure most conservatives genuinely believe in it as a sense of justice. I just disagree and think life in prison is a more appropriate punishment. I don’t pro-death penalty conservatives are insincere, but I think for people who are liberal on most other issues, like Obama, to then take a conservative position on an issue like the death penalty that 75% of the country supports, it sounds political to me.
July 6th, 2008 at 2:48 am
35- Katrina, the blog automatically blocks posts with more than one hyperlink in them. It wasn’t the content, it was the links. They routinely get approved though within a little bit.