Radio Free Kirkopolis

Jessie Helms was a horrible, horrible man. Make no mistakes about it. Sure he dabbled in having a heart, but in summation the only really good he did was inspire Dana Carvey to do a really funny impression of him. Anyway he’s dead at the age of 83.

Helms is perhaps best known for the "Hands" campaign ad televised during his 1992 race against Harvey Gantt, an African-American and former mayor of Charlotte. The TV spot show a pair of white hands crumpling a piece of paper that indicated the man's job had gone to a person of color.

He staked out his position on race and civil rights early in his career, when five-minute "Viewpoint" TV editorials made him well known throughout eastern North Carolina. In his book "Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism," University of Florida history professor William Link said Helms used "Viewpoint" as a soapbox against what Helms considered as an intrusive federal government bent on racial equality. Helms, Link wrote, considered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be a blow to states' rights.

So no whining about him- got it! Instead, if you really want to honor a true, American hero, well then honor Larry Harmon who passed at 83.