- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
When I worked in D.C. I had occasion to meet Helms several times and he was always a polite even courtly man, with that in mind, my condolences to his family.
That said, the man was a monster who stands out as one of the worst political leaders of the last quarter of the 20th century. Helms did enormous damage to the tenor of public debate and he gave comfort and aid to some of the most reprehensible elements of our society.
While I ascribe no real significances to it, I am struck by the fact that two of the GOP's strongest advocates for ignorance and anti-intellectualism (Ronald Reagan of course being the other), passed the final years of their lives in states of full-blown dementia, literally without a thought in their heads. Rough justice indeed.
