Jesse Helms

Ummmm... Can't they both be racist pigs? Can't I hate them both? Why is it that whenever someone makes a comment about, say, a racist republican, instead of saying, "yeah, we know. he's a schmuck and we don't agree with his beliefs," republicans counter with, "yeah, well... umm... i know of a racist democrat!!!!"

I'm not saying all Republicans are racist. Nor am I saying that all racists are Republicans.
I'm saying that this particular Republican is a racist pig. Does his party's affiliation *really* come into play here? I don't care which way you vote (I, personally, pick the candidates with the funniest names. Only way to go for me), but you damned well better hate this man because he's a bad person, whether he was a Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Whig.

 

I reject them both. Most democrats only reject one.

 

I think that's a pretty, uh, brooooooooooooooooooad statement, don't you think?

 

You liberals dissing on my man, Jesse? Have you no shame? The guy was a saint; a moral compass for the entire U.S. Senate. A beautiful human being.

Hahaha, you got me.

That racist sumbitch still owes me for riding my coattails all the way to the U.S. Senate in 72.

 

One key difference: Byrd (and even Thurmond) made up (or at least tried to make up) for their past missteps in racial relations. Helms never did, fighting hard against the King holiday and publicly taunting a black female senator in the process. Before one paints North Carolina with a broad brush, do keep in mind incumbents are hard to beat, and the closest Helms came to losing was to a black man, Harvey Gantt (51-49, IIRC).

 

I think Jesse spewed enough hatred and intolerance in his life to get some in return without the tired old trick of bringing a "Democrat who is racist, too" into the picture.

If you want to stick up for Jesse, why don't you ... I don't know ... maybe list a bunch of his successes or great attributes.

We'll wait.

 

Actually Helms closest election was against Gov. Hunt in 1984. Jim Hunt's only defeat. That was a 52-48 split. He beat Gantt 53-47 and 53-46 in their two go 'rounds.

 

You'd like to think that; for some people it's never enough tho...

 

Being a Democrat from North Carolina who would have voted for my wife's dog Puggsley before I voted for Jesse Helms, I think I have a little bit of standing on this matter. And I will likely wind up getting flamed for this, but I don't care. It seems to me, though, that this idea of insulting and spewing vile at those we oppose politically is not a trend I see as being very productive. Do we really need to call somebody a piece of crap because they're dead and we thought they were wrong? Do we really need to personalize our opposition to views we oppose? I mean, if you're planning to vote for Barack Obama for president, does that mean you have to believe that John McCain is not an American hero who should be admired for devoting most of his adult life to serving his country? If you're planning to vote for McCain, does that mean you have to start sending e-mails accusing Obama of being an America-hating stooge for Islamic terrorists? Many of Jesse Helms' beliefs, in my opinion, were rooted in ignorance or narrow-mindedness. But I believe his biggest flaw was that he allowed those beliefs to manifest themselves in the form of bitterness toward people who weren't like him or disagreed with him. I choose not to stoop to that.

 

When a politician chooses not to stoop to that level, they usually end up losing (i.e., John Kerry in 2004). Sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire.

 

We'll know when "Sheets" dies, I guess. Judging from what I've seen here, my money's on Old Tony.

 

Well said, David.