Jesse Helms / Stereohyped

» Man Leaves Jobs Over Helms Flag

The head of a research lab in Raleigh, N.C., chose to leave his job rather than follow Gov. Mike Easley's mandate to fly flags in the state at half-mast in honor of the deceased Sen. Jesse Helms. '"Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week,' Eason wrote just after midnight, according to e-mail messages released in response to a public records request. He told his staff that he did not think it was appropriate to honor Helms because of his "doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice" and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday." [NO via JJP]

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» The Jesse Helms Problem

How many ways are there to avoid actually calling a notorious, racist homophobe a racist homophobe in his obituary? Lots, apparently. [J-I]

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R.I.P. Jesse Helms

The End Of An Era? Let's Hope So.

Former North Carolina senator Jesse Helms once said that he "did not come to Washington to win a popularity contest." That's a good thing, because Helms, who died Friday at the age of 86, was never in the running for Most Popular Senator. Even in his obituaries, reporters are having a hard time finding nice things to say about a guy who was an unabashed bigot and a symbol of the sort of southern racism that has been a major pock on the history of the United States. Frequently when someone of Helms' renown dies, we say, "it's the end of an era." We're talking about a man who once said that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was "the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress." If his death really does mark the end of an era, then we should all thank our lucky stars.