Comments on: The death of Jesse Helms

By: juanito

juanito — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:02:19 +0000

I have many friends who will agree with you, Matt. I just sent this article to my Russian boyfriend and he even agrees. I was in Williamsburg for the long weekend with Yevgeniy and didn’t even know that Jesse Zero died. Not that it would have mattered. Muah!

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:37:40 +0000

Thanks Casey. I read it and I agree, to an extent. While I don’t agree with the praise for Reagan (he had plenty of flaws when it came to LGBT issues and HIV/AIDS prevention, too), I do see a lot validity in Rauch’s comments on Helms’ “conservatism.” Us vs. Them politics thrust Helms into his career as a conservative commentator in North Carolina, where millions listened to his race and gay baiting diatribes nightly. Later, his Us. vs. Them politics would catapult him to Senate seniority where he wreaked havoc on the LGBT community, those living and dying with HIV/AIDS and the arts community.

By: Casey

Casey — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:07:25 +0000

Jonathan Rauch basically hit my response to this. Worth reading. http://indegayforum.org/blog/show/31555.html