Since the announcement of former Senator Jesse Helms' (R-NC) death last week, apologists for his racist and homophobic words and actions have come forth trying to change the judgment of history.

Rush Limbaugh predictably put Helms in the same category as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (not just because they all died on July 4th); but the latest defense comes in a column entitled, "The Jesse Helms You Should Remember."  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070601767.html

It is written by Marc Thiessen, chief speech writer to President George W. Bush and former Foreign Relations Committee spokesman for Senator Helms from 1995-2001.

Thiessen says that previous reviews of Helms never recognized his "greatness."  To prove his point, he relates a story of how Helms was willing to upset President Reagan's first summit with Soviet Premier Gorbachev because he thought a Ukrakian sailor, who twice jumped off a Soviet ship in the Mississippi River, should have been given asylum instead of returned to his ship to prevent an incident.

What is ironic about Thiessen's tribute is he fails to note how little Helms did for Americans in this country, especially if they were black or gay.  Helms held enormous power as he rose through the United State Senate, yet he chose to fight against a Federal holiday recognizing Martin Luther King's birthday.  He opposed funding to research and fight HIV saying, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." even though many children and straights were infected.

The real Jesse Helms squandered the great power and responsibility that was presented to him during his lifetime to make this world a better place for minorities and the ill.  But he had greater concern for those who did not live in the United States than those who did. 

That is the Real Jesse Helms we all remember.