Jesse Helms Died

July 5, 2008

Former Senator Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) died of natural causes in the early morning hours yesterday.

A leading icon of the resurgent conservative movement, right-wing commentators are determined to whitewash the horrible stories of deep-seeded racism and homophobia similar to what the media did when Helms retired in 2001. David Broder of the Washington Post penned a column entitled “Jesse Helms, White Racist” about the polite coverage of Helms’ record on August 21, 2001. Helms’ Wikipedia page is no exception. Notice that the “Controversies” section on the profile no longer exists.

Conservative commentator Mark Levin wrote at the National Review yesterday:

I have noticed some of the smears lobbed at William Buckley in other places since his death; Jesse Helms is in for even more of it. Other prominent conservatives will face the same. Unfortunately, such is the nature of these things now.

Helms was infamous for blatantly racist and homophobic comments and nearly seven years ago, in response to the downplay of such views of his by the media, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), produced a fact sheet with all the greatest hits.

Helms filibustered legislation to make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a federal holiday for sixteen days in 1983.

In 1990, Helms was in a tough election race against the former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, an African-American, and his campaign released a racially-incendiary advertisement on “racial quotas.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIyewCdXMzk

The ad was produced by Republican strategist and current CNN commentator, Alex Castellanos. Castellanos later told PBS that he was “proud” of his work.

Less than a month before the 2002 midterm election, and three months before the end of his final term in the U.S. Senate, Helms joined 76 other senators in voting to authorize the use of force against Iraq. (To the right: Helms pictured with Ahmed Chalabi, President of the Iraqi National Congress and alleged spy for Iran.)

Ed Feulner, President of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, remarked that Jesse Helms was “one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century.”

“Along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, he helped establish the conservative movement and became a powerful voice for free markets and free people,” Feulner wrote.

The guy was a supporter of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, for Pete’s sake. Pinochet!