Jesse Helms is dead.
The Wall Street Journal, indubitably, lionizes him:
Former Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, a lion of the conservative right, died Friday morning at 86 years old.
Elected in the Republican landslide of 1972, Helms carved a reputation as a supporter of North Carolina's home-state interests, such as tobacco, and was known as a foreign-policy hawk and sometimes a severe social critic during his nearly three decades in office.
.... Mr. Helms built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during his decades in Congress. He was slowed in later age by a variety of illnesses, including a bone disorder, prostate cancer and heart problems....
The man lived far too long and did far too much damage.
I loathed him, especially his support of the tobacco industry.
Every time I see a young punk with a ciggie on his lips or begging for a ciggie, I want to slap the punk silly and scream to the heavens"
CURSE YOU! JESSE HELMS!
Well! If my atheistic prayers are answered, Jesse Helms won't be spending eternity where he expected to spend it.