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July 6, 2008
Bullshit
"Jesse Helms was a kind, decent and humble man and a passionate defender of what he called 'the Miracle of America.' So it is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July" -- President George W. Bush.
Um, no.
Jesse Helms was an unrepentant bigot who delighted in gloating at the defeat of his rivals. To imagine that liberals opposed him simply because he was conservative is the equivalent of imagining that they dislike David Duke simply because he identifies as Republican.
To find an equivalent to Jesse on the left with any kind of significant political office, you'd have to go to red China or North Korea.
Let us not forget his threats to then-president Clinton, that if Clinton were to visit North Carolina military bases, he had better bring a bodyguard.
Jesse Helms hated black people and gays, and said so repeatedly. If he were running for office today, all my Republican friends would be desperately trying to distance themselves from him. As a former resident of North Carolina, he was an embarrassment to all of us.
And to them, I would add this: People like Jesse Helms are the exact reason why people like Jeremiah Wright are so irrationally pissed off at all white people.
The only positive thing I can think of is that he was a Ric Flair fan. I hope that in his last days, he was able to let go of all the anger and hatred that so obviously consumed him.
Posted by LYT at July 6, 2008 3:45 AM [Message Board]
Comments
Andof course the instant new meme is that Wright is "just as bad if not worse" than Helms. There really is no effort spared by some to trivialize the endurance, legacy and complicity of white racism in this country.
Posted by: ReJeKt at July 6, 2008 8:48 AM