Jesse Helms Dead at 86

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He was an unrepentant racist and he is worthy of no respect. If there is a god may he forgive him.

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Interesting article.

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/politicians/helms/story/1135443.html

He quit rather than lower flag for Helms

RALEIGH - L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.
Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.

When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff.

The brouhaha began late Sunday night, when Eason e-mailed eight of his employees in the state standards lab, which calibrates measuring equipment used on things as widely varied as gasoline and hamburgers.

"Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week," Eason wrote just after midnight, according to e-mail messages released in response to a public records request.

He told his staff that he did not think it was appropriate to honor Helms because of his "doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice" and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Eason said in an interview Tuesday that he did not typically lower the flag himself, but that, as head of the lab, he supervised the technician who did. He also trained new employees on proper flag etiquette, including a one-person folding technique he learned in Boy Scouts.

When the lab opened Monday morning, the flags were not out at all. An employee called Eason's boss, Stephen Benjamin, who worked in another building in Raleigh. About 10:45 a.m., Benjamin told one of Eason's co-workers to put the flags at half-staff.

Another of Eason's superiors later drove by the lab to make sure the flags were up properly.

No one in the Governor's Office was aware of any time in recent memory when a state employee refused to lower a flag. Brian Long, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department, said Eason's refusal was unexpected.

"We've never had any conversations like that," he said.

An ultimatum

In a string of e-mail messages with his superiors, Eason was told he could either lower the flags or retire effective immediately.

Though he's only 51, Eason chose to retire, although he pleaded several times to be allowed to stay at the lab. Eason, who had worked for the Agriculture Department since graduating from college, was paid $65,235 a year as the laboratory manager.

Several people, including his wife, argued to Eason that the flags belonged to the state, as did the lab. But Eason said he felt a strong sense of ownership.

Eason and a previous boss had sketched out the building's rough design on a napkin at the Atlanta airport in 1984 after attending a national conference on weights and measures.

He then worked to get funding for it in the state budget, and he recently helped snag state money to study building another lab.

"I designed and built that lab," he said. "Even though technically the bricks and mortar belong to the state of North Carolina, I feel very strongly that everything that comes out of there is my responsibility."

It was not the first time Eason felt uneasy about lowering the flag.

A registered Democrat who frequently votes a split ticket, he said he had no problems lowering the flag for former Sen. Terry Sanford or President Reagan. But he remembers wondering whether he would be willing to lower the flag after President Nixon's death.

He never had to make that decision, since it rained both days.

Monday was sunny. And Eason was out of a job.

FF.

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Jesse Helms did some horrible things. Ted Kennedy did some horrible things. Jesse Helms was committed to what he believed in. Ted Kennedy was committed to what he believed in. Jesse Helms worked his ass off for his constituents' views to have a voice. Ted Kennedy worked his ass off for his constituents' views to have a voice. Jesse Helms has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. Ted Kennedy has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. We all need to be fair to these men if we are going to continue to have valid arguments. Hypocrisy is not respected.

I am sorry but you just cannot compare Jesse Helms to Ted Kennedy. Jesse Helms was a racist and a bigot who is surely getting deep fried in hell as we speak if it exists at all. Kennedy on the other hand, in his illustrious senate career, has helped those who were downtrodden in society like women, minorities and the disabled. You might not have agreed with all his policies and that is quite understandable, but that does not make him morally equivalent to a bigot. And I would say the same thing about most republican senators who I disagree with, but cretins like Jesse Helms and Jeff Sessions are on a different plane.

[Sbane]

Jesse Helms did some horrible things. Ted Kennedy did some horrible things. Jesse Helms was committed to what he believed in. Ted Kennedy was committed to what he believed in. Jesse Helms worked his ass off for his constituents' views to have a voice. Ted Kennedy worked his ass off for his constituents' views to have a voice. Jesse Helms has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. Ted Kennedy has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. We all need to be fair to these men if we are going to continue to have valid arguments. Hypocrisy is not respected.

I am sorry but you just cannot compare Jesse Helms to Ted Kennedy. Jesse Helms was a racist and a bigot who is surely getting deep fried in hell as we speak if it exists at all. Kennedy on the other hand, in his illustrious senate career, has helped those who were downtrodden in society like women, minorities and the disabled. You might not have agreed with all his policies and that is quite understandable, but that does not make him morally equivalent to a bigot. And I would say the same thing about most republican senators who I disagree with, but cretins like Jesse Helms and Jeff Sessions are on a different plane.

Ted Kennedy was in no way shape a form a moral, upstanding citizen. In fact, he is involved in numerous crimes, some more deadly than others.

Like murder? I require proof if you are going to make bold statements like that. I don't know what other crimes he committed so maybe you can expand on that too. I know Kennedy wasn't perfect, but he was much better than racist trash like Jesse Helms.

[Sbane]

Jesse Helms did some horrible things. Ted Kennedy did some horrible things. Jesse Helms was committed to what he believed in. Ted Kennedy was committed to what he believed in. Jesse Helms worked his ass off for his constituents' views to have a voice. Ted Kennedy worked his ass off for his constituents' views to have a voice. Jesse Helms has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. Ted Kennedy has numerous accomplishments to be proud of. We all need to be fair to these men if we are going to continue to have valid arguments. Hypocrisy is not respected.

I am sorry but you just cannot compare Jesse Helms to Ted Kennedy. Jesse Helms was a racist and a bigot who is surely getting deep fried in hell as we speak if it exists at all. Kennedy on the other hand, in his illustrious senate career, has helped those who were downtrodden in society like women, minorities and the disabled. You might not have agreed with all his policies and that is quite understandable, but that does not make him morally equivalent to a bigot. And I would say the same thing about most republican senators who I disagree with, but cretins like Jesse Helms and Jeff Sessions are on a different plane.

Ted Kennedy was in no way shape a form a moral, upstanding citizen. In fact, he is involved in numerous crimes, some more deadly than others.

Like murder? I require proof if you are going to make bold statements like that. I don't know what other crimes he committed so maybe you can expand on that too. I know Kennedy wasn't perfect, but he was much better than racist trash like Jesse Helms.

He was involved. That is fact, there is proof.
"On July 18, 1969, at approximately 11:15 p.m. in Chappaquiddick, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, I was driving my car on Main Street on my way to get the ferry back to Edgartown. I was unfamiliar with the road and turned right onto Dike Road, instead of bearing hard left on Main Street. After proceeding for approximately one-half mile on Dike Road I descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge. The car went off the side of the bridge. There was one passenger with me, one Miss Mary [Kopechne],[17] a former secretary of my brother Sen. Robert Kennedy. The car turned over and sank into the water and landed with the roof resting on the bottom. I attempted to open the door and the window of the car but have no recollection of how I got out of the car. I came to the surface and then repeatedly dove down to the car in an attempt to see if the passenger was still in the car. I was unsuccessful in the attempt. I was exhausted and in a state of shock. I recall walking back to where my friends were eating. There was a car parked in front of the cottage and I climbed into the backseat. I then asked for someone to bring me back to Edgartown. I remember walking around for a period and then going back to my hotel room. When I fully realized what had happened this morning, I immediately contacted the police."- Ted Kennedy

So there is his own admission of involvement, speculation says there is more but that is not firmly proven.

LOL what does this prove? That he may have been drinking and driving? Hell it doesn't even prove that. And some people out there think Kennedy murdered her first, which is getting into truther/birther land.