- Why would you tag a deceased racist, homophobe senator's name to a bill he would have been staunchly against if he were alive? This week, North Carolina senator Elizabeth Dole earns the title of biggest dumbfuck of the week by trying to tag the late Jesse Helms' name to an AIDS bill.
Republican Senator Dole introduced an amendment to name an HIV/AIDS relief bill after the recently deceased Jesse Helms.
Uh, senator Dole....you are aware that Mr. Helms was staunchly against HIV/AIDS relief, and his comments on the subject might as well said 'those fags are the sole culprit for AIDS in this nation!'
Jesse Helms, the man who in 1987 described AIDS prevention literature as "so obscene, so revolting, I may throw up."
Jesse Helms, the man who in 1988 vigorously opposed the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS research bill, saying, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."
Jesse Helms, the man who in 1995 said (in opposition to refunding the Ryan White Act) that the government should spend less on people with AIDS because they got sick due to their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."
Jesse Helms, the man who in 2002 announced that he'd changed his mind about AIDS funding for Africa, but not for American gays, because homosexuality "is the primary cause of the doubling and redoubling of AIDS cases in the United States."
- Speaking of the dead senator from North Carolina, how could anyone praise the life of a man who made his name by opposing the Civil Rights movement to HIV/AIDS bills based on his racist and homophobic beliefs? That was one of the questions racing through my mind a few weeks ago when Mark Noonan and company defended and, in some cases, praised his legacy.
1. FmrMarine | July 4th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Mark
We have truly lost a great man.
May he rest in peace, and our prayers are out for his family.
21. Jeremiah | July 5th, 2008 at 1:37 am
So, you see, kjs … the leftists here, like Rana, instead of desiring to unite around good, they want to unite around evil and that’s why they jump with glee of the passing of a great and courageous leader like Mr. Jesse Helms. Wanting us to compromise to join their evil ranks.
This is the type of mentality that the leftist indoctrination is turning out country into.
God help us as a Nation.
22. Mark Noonan | July 5th, 2008 at 2:31 am
So sad the way some of you liberals just hate, hate and then hate some more…and the saddest part of it is that you hate this man Jesse Helms not because of what you found out about him, but because of what others told you about him. You hate the man who’s heart bled for the children of Africa who suffered needlessly simply because for many, many years - under conservative and liberal leadership - the United States didn’t do the rather simple and relatively inexpensive things which make all the difference in the world. You hate the man who saw the re-emergence of slavery in Africa and unlike some, refused to explain it away and insisted we do something about it. You hate him, though you know him not…
25. Mark Noonan | July 5th, 2008 at 3:18 am
bongo,
Well, we’re actually just denying the leftwing fairy tales about Helms…the stories that he was a racist politician in the 1950’s, that he worked to keep black judges off the bench…that sort of thing. Of course, the real hatred of Jesse Helms stems from two things - he tried to stop government funding for displays of Mapplethorp’s pornography and, most importantly, Helms was an unapologetic and highly effective warrior for conservatism…
Uh, Mark: it's not a "left-wing fairy tale" that Helms was a racist politician....his bigotry and his support for dictators has been well-documented and it is an undeniable fact.
From Wikipedia:
Work for Capital Broadcasting Company
In 1960, Helms joined the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company. He was the executive vice-president, vice chairman of the board, and assistant chief executive officer. Helms daily CBC editorials on WRAL-TV in Raleigh gave him fame as a conservative commentator. The editorials, given at the end of each night's local news broadcast, made Helms famous throughout eastern North Carolina. The editorials featured folksy anecdotes interwoven with vivid conservative viewpoints. He referred to The News and Observer, his former employer, as the "Nuisance and Disturber" for its promotion of liberal views. Helms commented on the 1963 Civil Rights protests, "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights."[4] (WRAL-TV commentary, 1963) He also wrote, "Crime rates and irresponsibility among Negroes are a fact of life which must be faced." (New York Times, 1981-02-08) The University of North Carolina, which had a reputation as a bastion of liberalism in the state, was a frequent target of Helms' criticism: in one editorial he suggested a wall be erected around the campus to prevent the university's liberal views from "infecting" the rest of the state. Although his editorials created controversy, they also made him popular with conservative voters, and Helms won a seat on the Raleigh City Council in 1957. He served for four years. He was on CBC until he was elected to the Senate in 1972.
Helms worked on the unsuccessful 1960 Democratic primary gubernatorial campaign of I. Beverly Lake, Sr., who ran as a supporter of racial segregation. Lake was defeated by Terry Sanford, who ran as a racial moderate willing to implement the federal government's policy of school integration.
And here's info on his support for Salvadorian dictator Roberto D'Aubuisson.
Helms had close ties to the rightist Salvadoran death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson and was considered a main sponsor of D'Aubuisson's political party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance.[8] When confronted with evidence that D'Aubuisson ran death squads that systematically murdered civilians, he replied that "[a]ll I know, is that D'Aubuisson is a free enterprise man and deeply religious."[9]
Here's Helms and his reasons for opposing AIDS funding:
Helms was "bitterly opposed to federal financing of AIDS research and treatment".[12] Opposing the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988, Helms stated, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."[13] When Ryan White died in 1990, his mother went to Congress to speak to politicians on behalf of people with AIDS. She spoke to 23 representatives: Helms refused to speak to her even when she was alone with him in an elevator.[14] Despite opposition by Helms, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Care (CARE) Act passed in 1990.
Having attempted, and failed, to block passage of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Care (CARE) Act passed in 1990, Helms tried to block its refunding in 1995, saying that those with AIDS were responsible for the disease, because they had contracted it because of their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct", and falsely claiming that more federal dollars were spent on AIDS than heart disease or cancer. [19] His opposition to the spending was consonant with his long term anti-gay rhetoric and opposition to civil rights for gay men and women generally. Helms had declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches."[20]
Only in your little world could you find a morally bankrupt human being and a known homophobe/bigot, a man worth showing praise.
But hey, thanks for outlining that this is the kind of company you and your ilk choose to happily and proudly align yourselves with.
Part two of Random Questions this week.....
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