Jesse Helms

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

Read his obituary in The Economist. The "bad side" of Helms, as per the writer, included things that I don't consider bad at all. Opposition to the Civil Rights Act? So what? It was bad legislation. Friend of South Africa? Maybe, he doesn't think the US should abandon her allies when it's expedient? Never yielded on race? Why should he have? He was right.


What do you think of Helms?

[conley]

this is pretty crappy if you ask me:

"In 1996 the US Justice department admonished Helms' campaign for civil rights violations, "after it mailed 125,000 fliers to heavily African-American precincts warning that voters risked imprisonment if they cast ballots and blocked "Black judges from being considered for the federal bench."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Helms#Social_and_political_views

[conley]

"There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy,” he said in 1988, ignoring other means of HIV transmission."

the man sounds like a complete moron. apparently he thinks hemophiliacs all engage in butt sex? come on, this is a dangerous level of ignorance.

[conley]

now i know one of you guys are going to say oh well the hemophiliac got the blood from a guy who boinked another guy and so on...well by that same argument aids started because some poor bastard got bitten by a monkey, so you might as well say all AIDS can be traced to monkeys and thus we should kill all monkeys. makes about as much sense.

[conley]

preventing a minority from achieving or women cripples your own population and doesn't afford your country the ability to grow to its full potential

free market for individuals too. who is to say the next breakthrough in cancer research (or back to helms, the next great sc justice) is black or a female? do we really want to limit the potential achievements of our citizens? why?

[Peter1469]

I never liked him simply because he was in office too long.  Power corrupts and he was there for a very long time. 

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

this is pretty crappy if you ask me:

"In 1996 the US Justice department admonished Helms' campaign for civil rights violations, "after it mailed 125,000 fliers to heavily African-American precincts warning that voters risked imprisonment if they cast ballots and blocked "Black judges from being considered for the federal bench."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Helms#Social_and_political_views

I'm curious as to what the flyers said? I would need more info and would like to know if Helms repudiated the tactic.

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

"There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy,” he said in 1988, ignoring other means of HIV transmission."

the man sounds like a complete moron. apparently he thinks hemophiliacs all engage in butt sex? come on, this is a dangerous level of ignorance.

In the Western world, AIDS began and spread as a homosexual disease. By 1988, I'm sure that that had changed dramatically, however, it is not an outlandish thing to say.

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

preventing a minority from achieving or women cripples your own population and doesn't afford your country the ability to grow to its full potential

free market for individuals too. who is to say the next breakthrough in cancer research (or back to helms, the next great sc justice) is black or a female? do we really want to limit the potential achievements of our citizens? why?

How did Helms prevent such things?

[conley]

"There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy,” he said in 1988, ignoring other means of HIV transmission."

the man sounds like a complete moron. apparently he thinks hemophiliacs all engage in butt sex? come on, this is a dangerous level of ignorance.

In the Western world, AIDS began and spread as a homosexual disease. By 1988, I'm sure that that had changed dramatically, however, it is not an outlandish thing to say.

"not one single case"...it is

also to tell 125,000 americans that they cannot vote...also outlandish

[conley]

preventing a minority from achieving or women cripples your own population and doesn't afford your country the ability to grow to its full potential

free market for individuals too. who is to say the next breakthrough in cancer research (or back to helms, the next great sc justice) is black or a female? do we really want to limit the potential achievements of our citizens? why?

How did Helms prevent such things?

by refusing to consider any black for federal court

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

"There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy,” he said in 1988, ignoring other means of HIV transmission."

the man sounds like a complete moron. apparently he thinks hemophiliacs all engage in butt sex? come on, this is a dangerous level of ignorance.

In the Western world, AIDS began and spread as a homosexual disease. By 1988, I'm sure that that had changed dramatically, however, it is not an outlandish thing to say.

"not one single case"...it is

also to tell 125,000 americans that they cannot vote...also outlandish

Again, I'd have to have all the facts of the case but what is really outlandish is that someone would believe it.

[conley]

 

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

preventing a minority from achieving or women cripples your own population and doesn't afford your country the ability to grow to its full potential

free market for individuals too. who is to say the next breakthrough in cancer research (or back to helms, the next great sc justice) is black or a female? do we really want to limit the potential achievements of our citizens? why?

How did Helms prevent such things?

by refusing to consider any black for federal court

The source for this claim is a newspaper article written by someone who does not appear to very objective at first glance.   

"For the next 29 years, Helms opposes every piece of civil rights and affirmative action legislation. He chastises homosexuals, votes against federal funding for AIDS programs, and blocks Black judges from being considered for the federal bench."

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20080714f
 
Was he opposed to Black judges as a matter of principle or did he campaign against particular Black judges?

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

It would appear that the very act of campaigning against a Black judge, any Black judge, is a blow to "progress".