Former Senator Jesse Helms has vascular dementia.

[bermudat]

<http://www.newsobserver.com/622/story/424539.html>

An article in the Raleigh paper says Helms has been moved from his home to a nearby convalescent center. The writer says "it goes without saying that it is sad to see Helms' decline." No it's not. It actually brightened my day. Here's another gem, "Love him or hate him, and few people were neutral, Helms was a vital man and a political warrior who engaged in many of the great debates of the 20th century, as a television editorialist, banking lobbyist and 30 yr U.S. senator." Vital man? He was a hateful bigot who has nothing to show for his 30 years in the Senate except discord, not one meaningful piece of legislation. His reputation was based on blocking progressive legislation. I resent my tax dollars keeping him alive for probably decade when so many Americans go without health insurance. Get ready for the Helms-a-palooza on the fascist news channel (faux) when he finally returns to his lord and maker, Lucifer.

[joemurphy]

1. How can they tell? Did someone notice a difference? n/t

[Minnesota Libra]

2. OMG, that is so effing cold hearted - I said the same about Reagan nt

[Warpy]

6. And I'm saying the same about Scalia

who is becoming increasingly disinhibited and that aint good.

[Minnesota Libra]

9. Unfortunately you might be right too - Have you ever noticed.............

....these people who have some really serious mental issues are generally republican/neocon?? I've noticed that and I'm beginning to wonder if repeating that party message all the time really dumbs a person down more than we think.:wtf:

[lebkuchen]

12. I have noticed similar patterns of behavior.

[0007]

22. Ya might add Cheney's "Fuck You" to Senator Pat Leahy.

[izzie]

5. I think Delay and Senate leader eyeballed his NSA tapes.

--

[Doctor_J]

3. Dear Satan

make room for another soul. Maybe seat him next to Marge Schott.

[BootinUp]

4. You made me laugh

returning to his lord and maker lucifer, lol.

[AndyA]

7. And how recently was he working?

Could this have been going on while he was serving the people?

Just like Ronald Reagan, who was in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease while President?

Reminds me of George Bush. Something is just not right with that man, and we are likely putting our lives on the line by allowing him to remain in the White House. He is at the very least mentally ill.

[bermudat]

10. That hatred closed the vessels in his brain, a longstanding problem.

You're probably right, he's been suffering from rightwing dementia for years. His last speeches were in October 2004 which leads one to believe he's been going downhill ever since.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. a modern William Jennings Bryan, a real muckraking piece of crap.

[SaveElmer]

21. You are comparing Helms to William Jennings Bryan...

Hardly apt, except in their fundamentalism, and even there Bryan was not as mean spirited and intrusive as Helms...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

25. I suggest you read HL Mencken on Bryan. They are fundie twins.

Bryan, in the last two decades of his life, was a scum-sucking, dirt-throwing, vile and totally unchristian christian fundie, one who used virulent personal attacks rather than address any issue.

[SaveElmer]

26. H.L. Mencken was an extremely biased observer...

William Jennings Bryan, aside from his fundamentalist views, was a champion for labor and rural workers. He was a populist in the good sense of that word.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

28. hard to set aside his views, when that took up most of the last 10yrs of

his life. His performance at the Scopes trial was notable for exposing him to be an evil fraud.
Yes, Mencken had strong views, but even long before Scopes, he described just how corrupt and destructive force his fundie views were.

[SaveElmer]

29. He was hardly a fraud...

He simply had beliefs you do not share, nor do I. The status of public education, nor the definition of what was considered free speech was not yet well defined by the courts. Even Darrow acknowledged Bryan made a strong case for local control of school content. Darrow's beef was that in this case it consisted of advocating a specific religious belief in the classroom.

Overall William Jennings Bryan was an honorable man, with the positives far outweighnig the negatives...and certainly not a truly cruel personage as Helms was.

Though Clarence Darrow opposed him at the end, and their relationship was strained, he and Bryan worked together on several issues, and if I am not mistaken Darrow supported Bryan for President.

[SeaBob]

11. jesse helms

You captured my thinking exactly. jesse Helms was a nasty old mean bigot who did nothing positive for the country except to try to drag it into a cess pool where he dwelled

[lebkuchen]

13. He threatened a president 's life once.

That was meaningful.

[American Tragedy]

14. Even if I (God forbid) leaned remotely conservative I would loathe him.

Never forget, Jesse Helms was absolutely unrepentent. Though it's impossible to say whether or not it was heartfelt (I'd like to believe that it was), George Wallace at the very least made some effort to redeem himself later in life.

[jwirr]

15. Which began the day he was elected to the Senate.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Is he still alive?

[Metta]

17. Particularly poetic circumstances.

Preventable cognitive impairment for a person who spent so many years keeping so many people in states of mind and being that were detrimental to their health and well being. Talk about chickens coming home to roost.

[Kenergy]

18. You're headline should have read...

Former Senator Jesse Helms has had dementia for 30 years.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Just to keep things from getting ugly around here

When Jesse passes to the great cross burning in the sky, please join me in observing the occasion with a long and stony moment of silence.

[yellowcanine]

20. Helms is demented is NEWS?

[dsc]

23. I have been raised not to be crass and cruel

and thus have nothing whatsoever to say upon learning this news.

[msgadget]

24. When he finally hobbled on out

they were able to appear inclusive. Our president has quite the rainbow surrounding him. My ad-blocker blocked the article - is this a condition like Reagan's, something that creeps along for years before the big zaparooni fries the brain? I don't wish anyone ill but can you IMAGINE what it's like for the worker's at the home? :woohoo:

Edit for spelling...as usual

[mtnester]

27. I thought he was dead

see what I know :shrug: