Jesse Helms Dead at 86

[The Mikado]

It's funny when a elementary saying is so appropriate here: If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I have strong personal feelings about Helms and his "legacy" However, a man has died. Can we not form some sense of civility here?

^^^

I agree with the above.

[bgwah]

I'm sure you'll all be saying nice things about Osama Bin Laden when he dies, right? LOL.

[MatthewZD]

It's funny when a elementary saying is so appropriate here: If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I have strong personal feelings about Helms and his "legacy" However, a man has died. Can we not form some sense of civility here?

^^^

I agree with the above.

As do I.

It's amazing how easily differences in political opinions and visions of the USA can translate into personal rancor and outright hatred.  For all you (and this is a general "you", not aimed at anyone in particular) know, someone that holds the polar opposite political opinions may be someone you could have a grand conversation with over movies, music, books, sports, or any other nonpolitical topic.  Yet many on each side are ready to demonize and vilify those on the opposite side.  It's especially ridiculous when one of those people dies.  There are few cases when I would say celebrating someone's death is appropriate, but this isn't one. 

Jesse Helms loved his country.  He had a vision of how things should be that ran contrary to many.  Unlike many politicians today who go whichever way the political winds blow or polls direct, you always knew where Helms stood.  However, he was a man who used his office to help his constituents to the best of his ability and, as this recent article I found online mentions, he found it in himself to work with Bono on funding to fight AIDS.  

I disagreed with Jesse Helms on maybe 95% of the things he stood for, but I won't speak ill of him on the day of his death.  He was a strong force in American politics and may he rest in peace.  

[King]

May the bigot rest in peace.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Although I disagreed with everything he stood for during his career in public life RIP.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

whistling Dixie while on the Capitol elevator with Carol Moseley Braun.

lol, imagine if he had done that while in an elevator with Cynthia McKinney.

Carol Moseley-Braun's possibly-apocryphal response was, "Senator, you'd make me cry if you were singing Rock of Ages."

[Iosif is a COTHO]

Oh, stop the hand-wringing, he said more than enough disgusting things in his life to make up for all of us.

And by the way, dwdl I'm glad you've put the Confederate flag in your sig. It really lets us know where you stand.

[The Dowager Mod]

[ChrisFromNJ]

Oh, stop the hand-wringing, he said more than enough disgusting things in his life to make up for all of us.

And by the way, dwdl I'm glad you've put the Confederate flag in your sig. It really lets us know where you stand.

Not to mention the irony of it, with him being from New Jersey.

[Smash255]

Oh, stop the hand-wringing, he said more than enough disgusting things in his life to make up for all of us.

And by the way, dwdl I'm glad you've put the Confederate flag in your sig. It really lets us know where you stand.

Not to mention the irony of it, with him being from New Jersey.

Its the New Jersey version of George Allen...

[Ban my account ffs!]

I really have nothing nice to say about the man other than that I extend warm wishes to his family at this time. 

[Torie]

Helms was a man of which the Senate these days is largely bereft, and when Byrd and Kennedy go will be even more so. He was a character, he made an imprint, he stood for something, he did not trim to the winds, and he was a man of honor, as he saw that imperative.  He will be long remembered for his Senate career, when that of most is long forgotten.

Yes, I opposed much of what he did, and supported, sometimes vehemently, and I think long term, he hurt my party. So be it. Rest in peace, Jesse.

[Aizen]

Ding dong the bigot is dead

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Rest in peace.  I agreed with him on some things, but disagreed with him on some VERY important things (the racism).  But now is not the time for criticisms.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

LOL, the show I was at was so awesome. Periodically one of the D4 guys would yell out "OH BY THE WAY JESSE HELMS IS DEAD!" and everyone would cheer. He also talked about how awesome it'd be if some black guys were dealing with his body in the morgue and taking pictures of themselves punching his corpse in the nuts.

[Ebowed]

I'm sure you'll all be saying nice things about Osama Bin Laden when he dies, right? LOL.

^^^

[??????????]

Oh, stop the hand-wringing, he said more than enough disgusting things in his life to make up for all of us.

And by the way, dwdl I'm glad you've put the Confederate flag in your sig. It really lets us know where you stand.

Mongo, you're a moron.

[Eraserhead]

Finally.

[??????????]

Finally.

Could say the same about that trash in your signature.

[opebo]

Trash like Helms shouldn't get to die on the 4th of July.

Actually it is highly appropriate, as Helms perfectly personified all that america stands for.

[minionofmidas]

whistling Dixie while on the Capitol elevator with Carol Moseley Braun.

lol, imagine if he had done that while in an elevator with Cynthia McKinney.

I don't think he would have dared. Not as long as he had any natural teeth left, anyhow.

[Iosif is a COTHO]

It's funny when a elementary saying is so appropriate here: If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I have strong personal feelings about Helms and his "legacy" However, a man has died. Can we not form some sense of civility here?

^^^

I agree with the above.

As do I.

It's amazing how easily differences in political opinions and visions of the USA can translate into personal rancor and outright hatred.  For all you (and this is a general "you", not aimed at anyone in particular) know, someone that holds the polar opposite political opinions may be someone you could have a grand conversation with over movies, music, books, sports, or any other nonpolitical topic.  Yet many on each side are ready to demonize and vilify those on the opposite side.  It's especially ridiculous when one of those people dies.  There are few cases when I would say celebrating someone's death is appropriate, but this isn't one. 

Jesse Helms loved his country.  He had a vision of how things should be that ran contrary to many.  Unlike many politicians today who go whichever way the political winds blow or polls direct, you always knew where Helms stood.  However, he was a man who used his office to help his constituents to the best of his ability and, as this recent article I found online mentions, he found it in himself to work with Bono on funding to fight AIDS. 

I disagreed with Jesse Helms on maybe 95% of the things he stood for, but I won't speak ill of him on the day of his death.  He was a strong force in American politics and may he rest in peace. 

You've put an awful lot of euphemisms in there. With people like Helms, it goes beyond having a 'difference of opinion' with him. And I'm not going to respect someone simply because I 'know where they stand.'

Believe it or not, I don't actually hate Republicans, and there are very few people I would strongly attack after their death, generally because I recognise there are elements of decency in most people.

Helms was not decent. He built his entire career on hatred, bigotry and contempt for anyone different from him or anyone weak and vulnerable in society. I don't like seeing someone like that having their reputation whitewashed and sanitized.

[Sam Spade]

Helms was not decent. He built his entire career on hatred, bigotry and contempt for anyone different from him or anyone weak and vulnerable in society. I don't like seeing someone like that having their reputation whitewashed and sanitized.

You have to be careful when you start using words like these because they can often be found in members of the other side of the aisle too - though usually it happens on an individual to individual level, rather than on an individual to group level

I personally doubt that his career will ever be whitewashed and sanitized, much like Sam Ervin's was, as John Fund noted today, and it probably shouldn't.

[Sam Spade]

How could it be viewed as symbolic?

He was a FF and its the Fourth of July.  No necessarily everyone's take, but it could be for many.  Just as the eerie coincidence of Adams and Jefferson 7/4/1826

It could also be viewed as the ceremonious (or unceremonious) end of an era (whether you want to say race-baiting or hard-nosed conservatism is up to you), since that is what Adams and Jefferson's deaths are commonly viewed as nowadays.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Despite what some may think, there ARE truly bad people in this world. 

I will say nothing.