Jesse Helms Goes to Hell

I normally try not to speak ill of the recently dead, but Helms is a special case.

Among my favorite Helmsisms: he liked to call UNC the "university of negroes and communists," and, during a debate on funding for the North Carolina Zoo, he suggested putting up a fence around Chapel Hill instead--which he was fond of referring to as "the People's Republic of Chapel Hill."

And that was Helms being downright charming, comparatively speaking. He was an overt racist and a friend to just about every tyrant in Central and South America. He was a man who worked hard to make the world a worse place, and who was largely successful. As the Wilmington Star-News famously reported back in '95:

When a caller to CNN's Larry King Live show praised guest Jesse Helms for 'everything you've done to help keep down the niggers,' Helms' response was to salute the camera
and say, 'Well, thank you, I think.'"

Here's what the Current Occupant had to say:

President Bush paid tribute to Mr Helms as “a stalwart defender of limited government and free enterprise, a fearless defender of a culture of life, and an unwavering champion of those struggling for liberty.” He added: “Today, from Central America to Central Europe and beyond, people remember: in the dark days when the forces of tyranny seemed on the rise, Jesse Helms took their side.

“It is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July.”

And Senator McCain:

John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, hailed “a life dedicated to serving this nation."

Nice. This is approximately like eulogizing David Duke.

So goodbye to Jesse Helms, thorn in the side of the Old North State for thirty years. We're a worse place for your efforts.

Rot in hell, you racist sonofabitch.