[deandrecooke]

It is only fitting that an American hero like Jesse Helms would pass away on the fourth of July. I plan on naming my next cross in his honor. Rusty

[kmjbbT3U]

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[AlekseyZubkov]

History buffs will no doubt note that co-founding fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day after that fateful event we celebrate. I wonder if they would have invited him over for barbeque and beers?

Rick

[Paiblyelaxy]

First off, this should be in the non-orchid discussion forum so I have moved it.

Second, for some reason, this is what most comes to my mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jn8K...eature=related

While this is not a political forum, we're all certainly able to express our opinions here and today, in my opinion, the world is a slightly better place.

[kmjbbT3U]

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[Paiblyelaxy]

Oh, go ahead and give it away then!

Are you single?

[plalleste]

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[kmjbbT3U]

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[Paiblyelaxy]

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[OgrGlgHu]

I cannot imagine that ANYONE who posts in this forum would consider Jesse Helms a hero of any kind at all. I hope the original post was meant in jest.

Craig

[deandrecooke]

“I would like to be remembered as a fella who did the best he could and didn't back down when he thought he was right. And if I've done anything ... made any contribution and I don't say that I have ... it is that I have introduced into the dialog some things that may not have been introduced otherwise.”

Jesse Helms

[Paiblyelaxy]

We can certainly make this a quote war if you like...Maybe HE thought he was right?

"Helms was an advocate of the tobacco industry since much of North Carolina's rural economy relies on tobacco. (Hubert Humphrey once said that, "I'll trade Jesse Helms his tobacco vote for my wheat support any day.") Tobacco companies such as R. J. Reynolds and Philip Morris have supported him, both directly and through donations to the Jesse Helms Center at Wingate University. Helms became chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee in the 1980s.
Helms opposed the Martin Luther King Day bill in 1983 on grounds that King had two associates with communist ties, Stanley Levison and Jack O'Dell. [5] Helms led the Senatorial opposition to the bill and voiced disapproval of King's alleged philandering.
Though a chairman of a major Senate committee, he regularly eschewed invitations to go on Sunday interview programs, claiming his constituents did not watch them. He also advised a young press aide not to write a letter to the New York Times after one of its editorials condemned Helms: again, since most of the constituency did not subscribe to the paper, there was no need for him to engage the paper in a dispute.
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.[6] 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."[7]"

[deandrecooke]

Heather, Are you saying is work with Bono to fight AIDS in Africa was wrong?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Bono and Jesse Helms?

Not only are they friends, but the Irish rocker and archconservative former North Carolina senator also share a common cause: fighting AIDS in Africa.

Before U2 opened to a raucous crowd of 17,000 at the city's new downtown arena, Bono had dinner with Helms.

"He (Bono) called us a couple of weeks ago and said he wanted to see his old friend the senator," said John Dodd, president of the Jesse Helms Center, who accompanied Helms and other family members to Monday's meeting.

Since they were introduced several years ago, the Republican Helms and Bono have become close allies in the fight against the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

Helms, who is 84 and suffers from a number of serious health problems, arrived backstage before the show and was joined by Bono for a casual meal. On the menu: grilled chicken, roast beef and salmon.

"It was nothing fancy," Dodd said. "They ate in the cafeteria with the roadies and the rest of the crew."

The two men talked for a few minutes about their work and what they have been able to accomplish and what still needs to be done, Dodd said.

Bono briefed the senator on DATA—or Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa—a nonprofit organization he helped found in 2002 with other activists to increase awareness of the crises in Africa.

Did Helms stay for the concert?

"No, he didn't," Dodd said. "He has been to a U2 show before, but he was tired after traveling back from Raleigh earlier in the day."

[Paiblyelaxy]

Are you saying his anti-gay(etc!) actions weren't? Also, that's an article out of Charlotte, NC, his home state. Can you say, "biased"?

http://www.beyondhomophobia.com/blog...-a-bigot-fine/

"Fighting" AIDS, I believe, meant something different to him than it means to me.

http://home.att.net/~jrhsc/helms.html

You will be wasting bandwidth trying to convince me he was an American "Hero", if you want to waste time and energy trying to convince others here, fine, but I'm done with this.

[greeferweq]

Helms may have been a hero to some just as Stalin and Hitler were.

[Caursedus]

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[jamisi]

Perhaps Aquacorps was being sarcastic, but I don't read it that way, especially in light of his subsequent comments.
But even if he was, unfortunately there are those who will continue to feel Jesse Helms and his ilk are great Americans.
The great thing about America is we let just about everyone have their say. And if you let someone talk long enough, you will see their true nature. As some of the quotes and links posted here demonstrate, Helms was a very bigoted man, who held poorly formed opinions.
I for one am glad to see him gone.

[acissombiapse]

ok, so work with me here... I guess naming the hybrid with the bulbous sangii pouch, the forward projecting druryi dorsal and hmm, petals, petals... maybe the lovely argus petals could be a good plant to name after Mr Helms...

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[kmjbbT3U]

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[dXI9XFOA]

Interesting discussion. Within the past couple of weeks, the USA has lost two insightful Americans who were tops in their field and pretty much respected by people on both sides of the political fence. Jesse Helms was not one of them.