Jesse Helms Dies 25 Years Too Late

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican who became an icon to conservatives, died Friday at age 86. He was a hero to bigots and the cigarette corporations and a menace to the poor and downtrodden. Though claiming not to be a racist, he ranted in opposition to a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and tried to prevent the Voting Rights Act from being extended in 1982.

He never graduated from college but did manage to cleverly avoid service in WWII by working as a Navy recruiter in the South. He also worked for the segregationist Democrats, where he spread rumors that his political opponents went out with black women, and wrote campaign material like this:

"White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories?"

He never won a seat in the Senate by more than 55% where he pandered to bitter white losers while actively working against that same white working class. If that's not enough for you, here's one more story to make your blood boil:

Soon after the Senate vote on the Confederate flag insignia, Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.) ran into Carol Moseley-Braun in a Capitol elevator. Helms turned to his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), and said, "Watch me make her cry. I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing 'Dixie' until she cries." He then proceeded to sing the song about "the good life" during slavery to Moseley-Braun.

Have fun in Hell douchebag. Three points for me.