McCain adviser Charlie Black defended Helms’ racially-motivated ad.
By on Jul 5th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
McCain adviser Charlie Black defended Helms’ racially-motivated ad.
As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, the late-Sen. Jesse Helms’ ran an ad in his 1990 Senate campaign that preyed on people’s fears about affirmative action. The Politico reports that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) senior adviser Charlie Black, who was advising Helms at the time, strongly defended the ad. When asked if there was anything improper about the ad on the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, Black said, “Of course not.” “Do you approve of that ad, Charlie,” a guest pressed. Black responded, “I advised Jesse Helms to do what he’s always done.” “[T]here is nothing racial about the campaign,” Black added.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
22 Responses to “McCain adviser Charlie Black defended Helms’ racially-motivated ad.”
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Boehner
Bush
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
DADT
Economy
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Global Warming
Graham
Guantanamo
Hannity
Health Care
International Relations
Iran
Iraq
Justice
LGBT
Limbaugh
Liz Cheney
McCain
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Rove
Sanford
Sotomayor
Steele
Supreme Court
Terrorism
ThinkProgress
Tiller
Torture
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
The Helm's family must be sooooooooooooo proud of how that yellowhammer pos Jesse's legacy is starting out, huh?
ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
Nuthin' like seein' a bigot's sorry corpse dragged through some mud to make one's day.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:14 pmyes, they happened to have a picture of an African-American's hand at the time convenient to use...nothing racial about that.../sarcasm
July 5th, 2008 at 7:26 pm.
Birds of a feather...
.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:32 pmOf course Charlie Black defended the ad.
Most compassionate people strive to be race-blind. Most Republicans strive to be racism-blind.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:46 pmHow does Charlie Black manage to eat anything with his Florsheims permanently lodged in his yap?
July 5th, 2008 at 8:10 pmCharlie Black's a steaming old sack, just perfect for Johnny.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pmLiberal noodniks. How can a man named Black be a racist?
-GSD
July 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pmI was a student at UNC-ChapelHill in 1971. For a good laugh at dinner time, we used to listen to a clown of a Raleigh tv commentator. He was so outrageously stupid he was funny. He called us UNC at COMMIE Hill. November 1972 he was elected to the US Senate. Their party's divide and conquer strategy has worked for a long time.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:24 pmLet me guess. Black is White.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:31 pmRUC, I thought up was down.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:50 pmDid yall catch the Guardian obit for Helms?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/usa
July 5th, 2008 at 8:52 pmGSD,
(I don't think it's an invasion of privacy since your own link made it so easy):
Your top three friends on your myspace page are Mitt Romney, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo???
July 5th, 2008 at 8:58 pmThe guardian article sums up Helms pretty well. I remember him once as head of the foreign relations committee in the Senate strongly criticizing Pres Clinton for meeting with the leader of India. Problem was---Benazhir Bhutto was the leader of PAKISTAN! His slum rental property brought in very little money, yet he would not give them up or provide adequate heating and other repairs (1998?).
July 5th, 2008 at 9:09 pmBecause most stupid people tend to be conservative (not necessarily the other way around), and because most racist people are stupid (not necessarily the other way around), Republicans believe that there is nothing wrong with running a campaign that appeals to racists and bigots. That they win elections because of the support of racists and bigots doesn't seem to bother them. It should.
If Republicans don't want to be tagged as racists and bigots, then they should stop running campaigns that clearly appeal to racists and bigots.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:12 pmTP says,
"As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, the late-Sen. Jesse Helms’ ran an ad in his 1990 Senate campaign that preyed on people’s fears about affirmative action."
"people’s fears about affirmative action"???
Pleeeeezzzee...FEAR OF BLACK PEOPLE!!! "Affirmative action" is a BUZZ WORD!!!
July 5th, 2008 at 9:36 pmSo I still have this art installatiion idea but I need some real artists to get onboard
July 5th, 2008 at 9:49 pmI would be afraid of Black people too, they bomber the OK bldg, they invaded and occupied defenseless countries, they steal from the poor, they pass laws to benefit the rich, they fix elections, they ruin the environment, they own damn near everything, they ruin the goodwill of the US, they are held slaves...I'm scared shitless.
July 5th, 2008 at 10:41 pmRecipe for disaster.
The Corporate Media reports virtually nothing on McCain having been near the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy; his deep family and cultural roots in the "great" Neo-Confederate State of Mississippi; and his flat affect speech pattern indicating a tendency to severe depression.
"O well, I may as well push the button...We're out of beer anyway..."
July 6th, 2008 at 8:21 amThe link, #11, to The Guardian obituary should be viewed by all as it tells a brief history of Helms. It's a shame that the U.S. media, paper or television, will not be bold or honest enough to recite any of the scoundrel's deeds.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:31 amceltic cynic @ 19:
Thx for the rec on the Guardian's Helm's obit.
Bastard Out of Carolina
Was Jesse Helms a bigot or a patriot?
Definitely a patriot if you like neo-Confederate racists. (I seriously doubt whether Helms would flinch at that not inaccurate characterization. On the contrary, he’d probably be proud as punch--with a little bourbon in it.)
We’re pressured to say nothing negative about recently departed politicians like Helms. It isn’t seemly (conservatively correct). Remember the snow-job perpetrated on the credulous audience after Reagan‘s passing?
See this obit from the UK’s Guardian newspaper:
In domestic politics he denounced the 1964 Civil Rights Act as "the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress", voted against a supreme court justice because she was "likely to uphold the homosexual agenda", acted for years as spokesman for the large tobacco companies, was reprimanded by the justice department and the federal election commission for electoral malpractice, and compiled a dismal personal record as a slum landlord.
The irony was that he was often seen as a relative moderate in his home state of North Carolina.
***
The New York Times observed: "Few senators in the modern era have done more to resist the tide of progress," and Robert Pastor, whose ambassadorship to Panama was scuppered by Helms in 1995, commented that, "nothing Jesse Helms did in his entire career will enhance America's national security more than his retirement."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/usa
July 6th, 2008 at 9:52 amMcCain has surrounded himself with the old Bush-nicks and the usual lobbyists . . . so much for the "Maverick" label . . . and while running as a "War Hero" he keeps his military records sealed . . . while running as a "Military Supporter" he avoid talking about the votes AGAINST VA Health Care (2004-2005-2006-2007) or his opposition to the Web G.I. Bill . . . while running as an "anti-elitist" he neglects to pay taxes on ONE of his EIGHT houses . . . so why would a staff member's found recollections of working for one of the most vile racist demi-gods ever in the modern Senate be much of a surprise???
July 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pmThe really frightening thing about people like Helms and his ilk is their use of the Bible to back up their agenda. God is not mocked or used by any man.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm