# Jesse Helms is dead! Let's dance on his grave. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 4, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299 "2008-07-04T15:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/41 "2008-07-04T18:02:08Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] So why would racist editorials attract conservatives? [/QUOTE] “Conservatives” strikes me as a poor word choice there. “Reactionaries” would fit pretty well. There is not 100% intersection between the sets, but they’re pretty heavily overlapped. ETA: And “appeal to” strikes me as a more appropriate word choice there than “attract.” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/42 "2008-07-04T18:03:33Z")
In the link to the _Freepers_, someone posted > [@](#): > > On the Fourth of July, as did John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. > > It is fitting. For true defenders of the Constitution, the Fourth of July IS a good day to die… Gag me! I had the hard luck to live in Durham from 1966-71 and heard Jesse’s “editorial comments” right after the news each night over at WRAL. He managed to stop short of saying “nigger” every night. That’s about the kindest thing I can think of to say. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/43 "2008-07-04T18:11:10Z")
Playwright Mac Wellman called Helms one of the “Four Hairbrained Horsemen of our Contemporary Cornball Apocalypse” for his attempts to fuck with the National Endowment for the Arts. In a world of true justice, that quote would be carved on Jesse’s tombstone. Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/44 "2008-07-04T18:45:15Z")
[QUOTE=drewbert] I’m only sad because I one day wanted Jesse Helms, Jesse Jackson, and Jesse Ventura all locked in a small room for a week just to see what would happen. [/QUOTE] Especially if you throw a Gay Bomb into there. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/45 "2008-07-04T18:51:15Z")
You guys go ahead and dance if you like, just don’t step over here where I’ve…paid my respects. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/46 "2008-07-04T18:54:34Z")
Wow, that’s two clowns in two days. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/47 "2008-07-04T18:59:11Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] It was only when he saw straight people as its primary victims in Africa that he became concerned. [/QUOTE] i wonder if he ever realized they were straight _Negroes_. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/48 "2008-07-04T19:12:10Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] You guys go ahead and dance if you like, just don’t step over here where I’ve…paid my respects. [/QUOTE] Couldn’t hold back the paeans, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/49 "2008-07-04T19:31:28Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] And that’s the thing with Helms. When he did good, he often did it for right reasons; but far more often he did evil for terribly wrong reasons. He led the movement to block federal funding for AIDS research. If he delayed a cure by one year, how many deaths can we put at his doorstep? If he delayed a cure by one week, how many deaths? By one day? [/QUOTE] Yes, timing is critical. If Helms had died a few minutes earlier, the celebration could have started that much sooner. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/50 "2008-07-04T19:36:24Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] Wow, that’s two clowns in two days. [/QUOTE] Who was the other? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/51 "2008-07-04T19:44:49Z")
[Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhj-8BF2XnML69KPAiEQQkgECTRwD91N54JG0) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/52 "2008-07-04T19:52:52Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] [Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhj-8BF2XnML69KPAiEQQkgECTRwD91N54JG0) [/QUOTE] I think we’re all bozos on this bus! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/53 "2008-07-04T20:07:43Z")
In undertaking any course of action regariding a celebrity, it is wise to apply the Rush Limbaugh test. To wit: can you imagine Limbaugh, in apposite circumstances, behaving in the fashion you are envisioning? If so, you may wish to reconsider the course of action. I can imagine Rush Limbaugh having a celebration when Ted Kennedy dies. You may draw your own conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/54 "2008-07-04T20:07:51Z")
OK, next!..That’s right, sir, five seconds to dance, sir…no, sir, we don’t care, dance a jig, the boogaloo, funky chicken, we don’t…yes, sir, you can dance on the grave for _another_ five seconds, but you’ll have to go to the end of the line…yes, sir, I know, four hours, but those are the rules, sir… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/55 "2008-07-04T20:12:30Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] …I can imagine Rush Limbaugh having a celebration when Ted Kennedy dies. You may draw your own conclusions. [/QUOTE] Point taken, but a man can cease to be simply a man and became a symbol. If that is thrust upon him unwillingly, one can be sympathetic, and a bit of “tut-tut!” is appropriate. But Jesse chose his legacy and reaffirmed his symbolism with every breath. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/56 "2008-07-04T20:16:30Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Point taken, but a man can cease to be simply a man and became a symbol. If that is thrust upon him unwillingly, one can be sympathetic, and a bit of “tut-tut!” is appropriate. But Jesse chose his legacy and reaffirmed his symbolism with every breath. [/QUOTE] I think the erstwhile senator was fairly odious. I just would like to be a better than he or Rush or Ann Coulter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/57 "2008-07-04T20:19:17Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] Yes, actually, in the spirit that I said “because straight people weren’t dying,” AIDS IS a gay disease. That spirit is in the spirit of mocking Helms’s homophobic opposition to AIDs. Of course straight people were dying of AIDS in the US. Gay people were dying disproportionately, and his homophobia was his explicit reason for opposing AIDS research (the NYTimes editorial has the relevant quotes). It was only when he saw straight people as its primary victims in Africa that he became concerned. Daniel [/QUOTE] I had hoped that Helms himself would die of the disease . . . like so many of my friends who might be alive today, if it weren’t for that bastard. He was the dog shit on the sole of America. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/58 "2008-07-04T20:44:05Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] You guys go ahead and dance if you like, just don’t step over here where I’ve…paid my respects. [/QUOTE] Piss be upon him. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/59 "2008-07-04T20:49:58Z")
No man is an island etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299/60 "2008-07-04T20:52:53Z")
It’s slightly odd that on the [abcnews.com](http://abcnews.com) homepage, the top two headlines in the news are: \*\*Jesse Helms, Staunch Conservative Senator, Dead at 86 Ingrid Betancourt: ‘I Cry With Joy’\*\* The stories are actually unconnected, but still… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesse-helms-is-dead-lets-dance-on-his-grave/455299.md?page=4)