Mourners Weep For "Southern Gentleman"

Jesse Helms Represented N.C. In The Senate For 30 Years, And "Always Stood His Ground"

(AP)  Vice President Dick Cheney and a delegation of U.S. senators joined hundreds of other mourners who paid their respects Tuesday at the funeral of former Sen. Jesse Helms, a five-term Republican who died on the Fourth of July.

Helms' family sat in the front pews of the packed 800-seat sanctuary at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, where Helms worshipped for decades and served as a deacon. A bipartisan group of federal and state officials listened during a nearly hour and a half service as friends an family recalled the conservative icon, who inspired both love and disdain for his strong views.

"Jesse Helms always stood his ground," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said from the pulpit. "He put duty above all else - duty to God, to country, to family ... the simple duty of treating other people well."

Helms, who spent three terms in the U.S. Senate, died at age 86 after years of declining health.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who took Helms' seat when he chose not to seek re-election in 2002, attended the service with her husband, former Republican presidential candidate Kansas Sen. Bob Dole. Her counterpart, GOP Sen. Richard Burr, sat nearby.

Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware also were seated in the pews, along with Gov. Mike Easley and several state political figures. Cindy McCain, wife of presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain, also was on hand as others gathered to watch the funeral service remotely from a church gym.

Jimmy Broughton, Helms' former chief of staff, recalled for the crowd how a woman from Raleigh needed help with Social Security benefits. Her neighbor, a Democrat, couldn't help her with the problem, but advised her to call Helms for help.

The neighbor told her, "I despise the SOB, but I think it's high time you call Jesse Helms," Broughton said, drawing laughter.

The coffin of Helms, who served in the Senate from 1973 to 2003, was covered with a U.S. flag as the front of the sanctuary was decorated with flowers sent by U.S. senators and a painting of Helms at work. Choir members, in red silk robes, stood behind friends and family who spoke during the service.

Cheney did not speak at the funeral nor issue any statements to reporters. But his spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said, "The vice president went just to pay his respects and spend some time with the family."

Helms won his first election in 1972 after a career in newspapers, radio and television commentaries and rose to become a powerful committee chairman.

Helms is remembered by many for his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and was considered a polarizing figure both at home and in Washington.

He never lost a political race, but his margin of victory was never large. In the Senate, he forced roll-call votes that required Democrats to take politically difficult votes on cultural issues, such as federal funding for art he deemed pornographic, school busing and flag-burning.

He also ran racially tinged campaigns in his last two runs for Senate, defeating former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, who is black, in 1990 and 1996.

In the first race, a Helms commercial showed a white fist crumpling up a job application, as a narrator said, "You needed that job, and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota. Is that really fair?"

As he aged, Helms was slowed by a variety of illnesses, including a bone disorder, prostate cancer and heart problems, and used a motorized scooter to navigate the Capitol as his career neared an end. In April 2006, his family said he had been moved into a convalescent center after being diagnosed with vascular dementia, in which repeated minor strokes damage the brain

Helms was born in Monroe on Oct. 18, 1921. He attended Wingate College and Wake Forest College, but never graduated and went on to serve in the Navy during World War II.

Raleigh resident Wallace Holloway, 68, waited outside the church for about an hour before the doors were to open. He said Helms will be greatly missed, in part because he believed there's no longer anyone in Congress with his conviction.

"We need more men like Jesse Helms," Holloway said. "He's an icon - a Southern gentlemen. He'll be remembered for integrity and truth."

[raoul12-2009]

Oh and another thing, he was definitely opposed to making Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday. He didn''t like black people either.

Posted by Avigil2 at 04:39 PM : Jul 09, 2008
______________________

The exact same things could be said about McCain; he also voted against a MLK holiday.

[raoul12-2009]

Poor soul. I hope God had mercy on him.

Posted by Avigil2 at 04:28 PM : Jul 09, 2008
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If there were a God, which there is not, he would let this ****** be re-born, just so he could die again.

[avigil2]

Oh and another thing, he was definitely opposed to making Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday. He didn''t like black people either.

[avigil2]

Oh and another thing, he was definitely opposed to making Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday. He didn''t like black people either.

[newtagagain]

I would say that Helms must have had a good side - he was married to the same woman for sixty-something years and he adopted a son with cerebral palsy. Too bad he never showed this side in his years of racist, bigoted statements and actions. Here''s hoping the true God is not the one he worshipped all those years.

[avigil2]

I don''t wish death on any poor soul, but good riddance to Mr. Helms. He was notorious for spreading his hateful words and bigotry on mostly homosexuals. He succeeded in passing a bill that banned anyone with HIV to entering the country, which major health organizations (such as the US Public Health Service, Word Health Organization and the International Red Cross to name a few) deniably opposed. He convinced the Bush administration not to lift the ban and as of today, we are the only industrialized nation in the world to prohibit travel based on their HIV status. Mr. Helms had a chance to but refused to speak to the mother of Ryan White, the boy who died of AIDS in 1990. And he has said all along, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." Poor soul. I hope God had mercy on him.

[raoul12-2009]

"Should''ve known the absolutely soulless libs would be on this forum saying the most vile and wicked things about Sen. Jesse Helms. They hate Christian Conservatives so much they''d like to see them all

Posted by globalcool08 at 11:27 PM : Jul 08, 2008"
____________________

I would have loved to have been there to see that ****** laid up dead in his decorated box. It would have been just great to pisss on his face as the rest of the "Christian conservatives" looked on. This so-called "Christian conservative" was Christian in no sense of the word.

[Gary Kempf]

fsw3 ;
Amen!!!!

[aldon61]

Jesse Helms was a bigot; he was also arrogant and defiant. He will not be missed by most of us, but we should LEARN from his life so we are not bound to repeat history. As for him going to h/e/l/l/, that''s not up to us, just be glad that he is now gone from the earth. I hope his family can find some closure.

[parrot123-2009]

It is a shame Helms is dead...I would have liked him to watch in horror as the Democrats sweep the GOPer NEOCRONIES from power before he croaked! Now that would have been justiced.
Posted by ozilot at 09:15 AM : Jul 09, 2008


This is really Sad .....

As he aged, Helms was slowed by a variety of illnesses, including a bone disorder, prostate cancer and heart problems, and used a motorized scooter to navigate the Capitol as his career neared an end. In April 2006, his family said he had been moved into a convalescent center after being diagnosed with vascular dementia, in which repeated minor strokes damage the brain.

Me thinks he suffered a great deal. Cheers!