While Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama and many others are doing—apparently—the CYA dance with the FISA bill, a North Carolinian state employee was reminding many of us that integrity and guts can still be found in this country.
As the above quotation from NC state Standards Lab director L.F. Eason, III indicates, not everyone is willing to let Helms’ position as a U.S. Senator trump Helms’ racism, bigotry in terms of almost all minorities, NC reputation as a slum landlord, and the Senator’s general woeful lack of awareness of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Popular among graduate students at UNC/Chapel Hill when I was there in the 60’s was the story of Helms having had fired a grad assistant for asking his students to write a seduction after the spirit of Andrew Marvell’s famous poem, “To His Coy Mistress.” The story may be apoccryphal. It does, however, deliver a pretty accurate notion of how Helms disagreed with any positions other than his own.
And I salute our now-retired state employee who chose his integrity over his job. Helms’ intolerance was a source of shame for many North Carolinians.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Rick Whitman // Jul 13, 2008 at 6:23 pm
It sickens me to see of all our paid for and elected representatives packing their bags for a month-long vacation without establishing any national energy policy ( a number-one priority, in my opinion). Both BO and JM are waffling all
over the country about how we should get the arabs oily hands off our backs and out of our pockets. More than ever I am convinced that we desparately need a viable third (and maybe fourth) party, very strict term limits for all federal officials, and a publicly elected Attorney General (not under obligation to any political party!) who has full authority to investigate and refer to trial ANY politician who violates the Constitution.
2 admin // Jul 15, 2008 at 10:02 pm
The AG idea is very interesting. I don’t have any hope for a 3rd party so can’t follow you there. I will be happy just to get the Republicans out and give a decent Democrat a chance to begin to clean up Bush’s mess. But I sure share your despair.
3 Jayne // Jul 25, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I tried, but I can’t go on your blog anymore … it’s one-sided, and I don’t have the energy for rebuttal.
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