Dropping the Helmsman

by Hendrik Hertzberg

Far too late for it to do anybody any good, Jesse Helms has died. He has done so on Independence Day, which, since he was born too late to own slaves and in too liberal an age to allow him to outlaw sedition, will forever be his only resemblance to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

It is rude to speak ill of the dead. Luckily, I did so ahead of time.

Helms, McCain & the White Hands
John Nichols: The people who helped the late North Carolina senator run race-baiting campaigns are now helping John McCain.