Former Sen. Jesse Helms, one of the staunchest conservative champions in politics for more than 50 years, died Friday after a period of declining health, ending the life of one of the most divisive politicians in generations.
Republicans in North Carolina and throughout the country expressed sadness at the news.
"It's just incredible that he would die on July 4, the same day of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, and he certainly is a patriot in the mold of those great men," said former North Carolina GOP Rep. Bill Cobey, chairman of the Jesse Helms Center in Wingate, N.C.
Many were careful to associate themselves more with the 86-year-old's cordial manner and personal characteristics than his often polarizing politics.
"Today we lost a senator whose stature in Congress had few equals. Senator Jesse Helms was a leading voice and courageous champion for the many causes he believed in," Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
He earned the nickname "Senator No" for his opposition to Democratic efforts and, at times, Republicans as well. President Reagan once described Helms as "a thorn in my side," while President Clinton saw dozens of appointments held up by the masterful parliamentary tactician. "I didn't come to Washington to be a 'yes man' for any president, Democrat or Republican," he said in an interview in 1989, according to the New York Times. "I didn't come to Washington to get along and win any popularity contests."...
Under God: Judgment and Jesse Helms - On Faith at washingtonpost.com
Most of us have strong opinions about public figures, especially politicians and especially those we've never met. But my grandfather taught me never to speak ill of the dead. So I'll pass on passing judgment on the late Sen. Jesse Helms, who seemed to spend so much of his life passing judgment on anyone who didn't fit his narrow view of what is right and good and Christian.[...]
...In 2002, just before he retired from the Senate, Helms agreed to meet with the rock star Bono, one of the world's leading advocates for fighting the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Helms, who had spent many years slashing foreign aid budgets, had rendered his judgment on AIDS loudly and clearly. In 1995, for example, he told The New York Times that the government should spend less money on people with AIDS because they got sick as a result of "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."
But after talking to Bono, Helms apologized and said he was ashamed. "I have been too lax too long in doing something really significant about AIDS," Helms said.
What did Bono tell him?
"Christ only speaks about judgment once and it's not about sex but about how we deal with the poor, and I quoted Matthew, 'I was naked and you clothed me, I was hungry and you fed me.' Jesse got very emotional, and the next day he brought in the reporters and publicly repented about Aids. I explained to him that AIDS was like the leprosy of the New Testament."
If a rock star can have that sort of impact on Jesse Helms, there's no telling what Jesus can do.
You know, this is the sort of death that a lot of people are celebrating, if that's quite the right word. At the least, they're not unhappy that he's shuffled off this mortal coil. And I can understand that, I really do.
But ... well. Here's the thing: it's one thing not to be at all sorry that he's dead. And honestly, I'm really not. And I can understand people who are kind of happy that he's dead; speaking as one whose ox were gored by his prejudices many times -- I'm not a conservative white Republican keeping my woman in her place -- I'm black and gay, for heaven's sake -- I know people who died of AIDS back when his prejudices mattered to their treatment, I know poor people whom he hurt through sponsoring cuts in food stamps and welfare, I know all that. And for all that he might have done some good at the end by repenting his previous position on AIDS, that can't make up for the harm he did prior to that. So, no, not sorry he's dead.
But I do feel, somewhat, for his family, who are going to have to endure hearing people say something like this, over and over:
This morning, I learned that America is celebrating its independence from one of the politicians who's goal was to ensure that this country was a colder, meaner-spirited place for millions of its citizens to live; a former senator of North Carolina, Jesse Helms. A lot of people called him "Senator No", although I (and no doubt others) thought of him as "Senator Hate."
How should we remember a right-wing religious control freak who has caused so much grief to so many people during his 52-year political career? Well, I certainly do not want to speak ill of the dead [...]
