Wherever it’s written that it’s wrong to speak ill of the dead, that writing is wrong.

I’ve come not to praise Senator Jesse Helms, who died today, but to bury him. Which is only fitting, given how many people indirectly buried by his actions.

During the emergence of the crisis, Helms led the fight against AIDS funding. He voted no on civil rights, no to the United Nations, no to arms reduction treaties. He eviscerated the National Endowment for the Arts.

That Helms died on the 4th of July, and with the knowledge that a black man is about to be nominated for president by a major party, gladdens my heart. The latter could not have sat well (despite the encomium today from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said despite all evidence, “Senator Helms certainly was no bigot.”) The former gives us a wonderful opportunity to contrast Mr. Helms with two previous U.S. leaders who also died on July 4th.

John Adams: Led the independence effort. Negotiated a loan with the Dutch that financed the war for independence. Wrote the Massachusetts Constitution, which served as the basis for the U.S. Constitution. Created the U.S. Navy.

Thomas Jefferson: Wrote the Declaration of Independence. Doubled the size of the nation, in effect sparing us land wars at home. Founded the University of Virgina. Protected the rights of — and from — religion.

What will go on Mr. Helms’ tombstone?

“Against blacks, and gays, and peaceable assembly, and intellectual pursuits, he gave us Ronald Reagan.”

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 10:57 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.