Jesse Helms: We're better off he's dead

Michael Balter 7/05/2008 02:49:00 AM Politics
Jesse Helms was a racist, a gay-basher, an enemy of women's rights, an enemy of public broadcasting and the arts, and one of the most reactionary politicians America ever produced. But that won't stop many pundits and politicians from finding a good word to say about him--just watch.

Fortunately, not only is Helms dead, but his extreme brand of racist conservatism is no longer part of the political mainstream, as it was not so long ago. Perhaps it is fitting that Helms has disappeared from the national stage just as a Black man is about to be elected president. Could someone like him be elected to the Senate today? I doubt it, and that is a sure sign America has changed.

Addendum: Christopher Hitchens gets a lot of things wrong these days, but he gets it right about Helms in a piece in Slate.

Backdate: The other day the Boston Globe's excellent and eloquent columnist, James Carroll, talked about soldier suicides and how both the American military and Americans have failed our troops. I have posted the full text on my Web site here. Please read it and think about it.
Michael Balter

Posted by Michael Balter

I have been a working journalist for more than 40 years, beginning in Los Angeles as an investigative reporter and then in Paris as a travel, food, and science writer. For more than 20 years I have covered anthropology and archaeology writer for Science, Audubon, Scientific American, SAPIENS, and other publications. I have also covered sexual misconduct for The Verge, Scientific American, and others; I write about mental health, especially schizophrenia; and I engage in occasional media criticism. I returned to the USA in October 2017 after 30 years in Paris, and now live in the New York City area, where I currently teach journalism at City College of New York (I previously taught journalism at Boston University and New York University.) For more about me and what I do, copies of my articles, information about my book, and other goodies, please visit MY WEB SITE

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1 Comments

Anne Gilbert said…
Ordinarily, I would not speak ill of the deceased, but in the case of Jesse Helms, I have to agree with you. He was oneo fo the worst excresences to ever foul up the halls of Congress. I really don't know why the people of North Carolina put up with him for so long. But that is another story.
Anne G
July 5, 2008 at 3:25 PM
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