Jessie's office stated that his position is that Certain Religions aren't "Real" religions.  What is a real religion, Mr. Helms?  What you have been practicing?  He says on the one hand that only certain Christian denominations are valid.  Read the following and remember: "By their Works may they be known."  This is a summary of information collected from several sources about Jessie Helms.

(Remember it is best to investigate on your own when looking at allegations about anyone.     Don't believe us, think for yourself and investigate for yourself!  And remember, the First Amendment Coalition and Religious Freedom Coalition of the South East do not represent any political party nor do we recommend any political candidate, nor are we involving ourselves in the political process.)

General Activities

Sleaze Factor by D. Glaze: In the back of your mind, note the name of the late Shearn Moody of the old Galveston, Texas family. Shearn, AKA "The Raging Queen of Galveston," was once called "The Sleaziest Man in Texas" in a Texas Monthly cover story.   Just prior to revelations of a state and federal probe into his theft of millions from the Moody charity trust, an ad hoc political group begun by Shearn gave Jesse Helms a special award as "Conservative of the Year." I was living in the Galveston area at that time, and Helms was widely rumored to be in town during the period. After hearing of the award ceremonies a couple of years later in Texas Monthly, I assumed that Helms also stayed over to party with Moody and his large harem of young men. (Note: people around the country were shocked when the late Texas comedian Bill Hicks joked about Helms having the hides of young boys nailed on the wall of his barn, but it has long been assumed by many Texans that Helms is not simply covering up his adulterous, bisexual lifestyle.) Anyway, a few years ago I wrote Helms and expressed surprise over his association with Shearn Moody.  Helms wrote back and denied ever having heard the name.  Hmmmmmmmmm.

Quotes

Bill Clinton "better watch out if he comes down here [to North Carolina]. He'd better have a bodyguard."  -stated by Jesse Helms in regards to Clinton's supposive unpopularity with the North Carolina military. According to Helms (and refuted by military personnel), the military was likely to shoot Clinton if he came to North Carolina.

"Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade school classes that teach our children that
CANNIBALISM, WIFE-SWAPPING, and the MURDER of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior.  '' Part of the text of a fundraising mailer sent out by the Helms campaign.

Who is Jessie Helms?

Jesse Helms, North Carolina's long-serving Senator, has been spewing his hate filled nonsense since 1960. He began his career as a Rush Limbaugh style pro-segregation radio commentator. He held this job from 1960 until his election to the U.S. senate in 1972. Over the course of his career, one of the few groups he hasn't offended is the tobacco industry. He's held up the legislation and political appointments of every recent president (Reagan was too lenient on Central American countries that leaned left, Bush was too moderate, and Clinton is a Democrat) and bears no major bills to his name over the course of his sixteen year career. Helms has, however, done everything he can to offend all sorts of minority groups with comments calling homosexuality a "disgusting, filthy lifestyle" and, in the 70s and 80s, supporting many of the white-run governments in Africa such as South Africa.

Minorities

"All Latins are volatile people. Hence, I was not surprised at the volatile reaction." stated by Helms after Mexicans protested his visit to Mexico in 1986 to investigate allegations of political corruption (essentially, Helms was investigating as to whether or not there might be communists in Mexico)

One of the first targets of Helms' hatred was minorities and he hasn't changed much over his 76 years of life. He began his career as a pro-segregation commentator who called the University of North Carolina (UNC) the "University of Negroes and Communists". Over the course of his senatorship, he's opposed creating a federal holiday for Martin Luther King, supported the apartheid movement in South Africa, used the issue of race to win an election, and insulted minority groups. And he's still opposed to the 1964 civil rights act.

In both his 1990 and 1996 reelection campaigns, Helms used a wide variety of revolting tactics to dispose of his democratic contender. In both elections, Helms ran against a black man, the former mayor of Charlotte, Harvey Gantt. In both elections, Helms attacked Gantt based on, largely, his race and his tentative support of equal rights for homosexuals. In 1990, Helms created what perhaps became the most infamous political ad of the modern era, an ad designed to play to the fears of whites of losing their jobs to minorities. Gantt stated that he would have a supported an equal rights bill that, according to individuals such as Helms, would have created racial quotas. Helms' ad showed a pair of white hands crumpling a job rejection letter. The voice-over proclaimed: "You needed the job, you were the best qualified. But they gave it to a minority because of racial quotas. Is that really fair? Harvey Gantt says it is." Before the ad, Gantt was shown to be ahead of Helms in some polls but "The Ad", as it became known, finished him  Ads from the 1996 campaign targeted Gantt in a similar manner and began attacking Gantt on his support of homosexual groups. Seeing as how Helms is probably the most anti-homosexual senator, it should come as little surprise that Helms' opponents regularly take money from pro-homosexual groups (as they consider removing Helms from office a priority). Helms, however, tried to portray it in a more sinister light. He ran ads asking: "Why are homosexuals buying this election for Harvey Gantt?" Other ads that Helms created accused Gantt of "secret campaigns" in which he "raised thousands of dollars in gay and lesbian bars" and ran "radio ads that played only on black radio stations."

A Klansman. Helms' soulmate?

In addition to these tactics that relied on misleading statements and occasional blatant untruths, Helms also tried to discourage blacks from voting in the 1990 race. 125,000 North Carolina voters, almost all black, were sent postcards that said they might not be eligible to vote and, if they tried, they might be prosecuted for vote fraud. The Justice Department investigated several complaints relating to the matter of the postcards being sent out and found the Helms campaign at fault. The Helms campaign, the North Carolina Republican Party, and four campaign-consulting and marketing firms were charged with violating the Voting Rights act. According to the complaint, the decision to mail the postcards was done after it was shown that Gantt had a small lead and that black voting registration was increasing at a rate faster than whites, at a rate of 10.6% to 5.3%. In addition, 97 % of the postcards were targeted at blacks and 44,000 of the cards were sent out exclusively to black voters in certain areas. The other 81,000 were sent to registered voters in primarily black precincts. While the Helms campaign signed an agreement of guilt, they never acknowledged they were responsible for the mailings and claimed they signed it because they didn't have enough money to go to court against it (which is unlikely, as Helms is one of the biggest fundraisers around). The Helms campaign and the rest were not particularly harmed by the decision and told, essentially, not to do it again.

Helms also has a history of supporting white run African nations. While there are no more white-run African nations, Helms was a vigorous supporter of the ones that did exist in the 70s and 80s. Helms was a strong supporter of white run Zimbabwe Rhodesia and interfered in its negotiations with Britain to turn over rule to the black majority (two of his aides encouraged the white Prime Minister of Zimbabwe to hold out for more concessions). He also was opposed to passing economic sanctions on South Africa when it was under the rule of apartheid. Helms' reasoning for opposing sanctions on South Africa were twofold. First of all, Helms generally acts in a manner similar to blatant racist and its no surprise he would rather see the whites in power. Helms had this to say about the blacks fight for freedom, and why he opposed economic sanctions. "All this bill [for economic sanctions against South Africa] does is exacerbate the situation in South Africa. Nobody is for apartheid, but who are we to be so pious about the efforts of the South African government to stop the riots, the looting, the shooting and the mayhem that's going on over there?". In addition to this, Helms, in later years, was connected to the International Freedom Foundation. This organization pretended to be a conservative thinktank but was, in fact, part of an intelligence gathering operation of South Africa. While it is not known to what extent Helms worked with the organization, he did serve as chairman of its editorial board for the organization's publications. The organization was designed to be an instrument of "political warfare" against the enemies of apartheid, according to a former South African spy. The foundation was also given $1.5 million a year from the South African government. Suffice to say, Helms was pretty cozy with this organzation. To be fair to Helms, the International Freedom Foundation kept its true mission a secret and there's the possibility, albeit small, that Helms didn't know what the organization really was.

Helms has also embarked on his racist crusade in a number of minor incidents. Helms has continually endeavored to prevent the creation of a national African-American History museum. He presented two arguments against it: 1) there are already museums for African-American History (Helms cited a part of the Smithsonian that focuses on the modern history of a few states and is hardly inclusive of African-History as a whole) and 2) if African-Americans get one, all minorities will want one. Helms was also concerned that it might glorify Louis Farrakhan. "I doubt many Americans want their tax dollars being spent to honor Louis Farrakhan," said Helms. Along the same line, Helms was also opposed to the creation of a national holiday for Martin Luther King because, supposedly, he was a communist sympathizer. Another incident occurred when Nelson Mandela (after being elected president of South Africa) visited the United States. As he shook hands with senators, Helms deliberately turned his back on Mandela and walked out. Helms was also angered when former Senator Carol Mosley-Braun, who's family is from the Carribbean, was opposed to letting the United Daughters of the Confederacy use of Confederate war symbols. He stated "She had screamed and hollered and cried about slavery, how terrible it made her feel to see the Confederate flag," Mr. Helms said, "I have been told she does not have a grandfather or a great-grandfather who was a slave, that she came from Trinidad or Jamaica or somewhere." Helms neglects the historical fact that slavery was widespread among the Carribbean nations. In addition to these slights against minorities, Helms also, to some degree, thanked a caller to the Larry King show on CNN who thanked him for "keep[ing] down the niggers". The transcript follows:

"And Mr. Helms, I know this might not be politically correct to say this thing, but I just think you should get a Nobel Peace Prize for everything you've done to help keep down the niggers,'' the caller said.

"Oh, dear,'' Robert Novak [the host for the night] said.

"Whoops,'' said Helms, quickly adding: "Well, thank you, I think.'' [How many times has Helms thanked someone for saying something similar away from the camera? Thousands, I would guess.]

Novak then said, ""That was a bad word. That was politically incorrect. We really don't condone that kind of language, though, do we?'

"No,'' said Helms.

Homophobias

Helms has refused to support money to aid families with victims of AIDS because its their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct" that is responsible for the disease.

In the 70s and 80s, Helms did all he could to attack and keep down minorities. He has shifted gears a bit in the 90s and now seems obsessed with attacking homosexuals. Generally, Helms seems to confuse homosexuals with demons and other such hellish creatures. He regularly sponsors legislation that endeavors to make their lives miserable and even to prevent funding treatment for AIDS (since Helms seems to think that all cases of AIDS stem from homosexual activity). Helms also supports the rather brutal idea that AIDS victims should be quarantined.

Over the course of the 1990s, Helms has tried a variety of tricks to either prevent pro-homosexual legislation from being passed or slipping anti-homosexual legislation into various Senate bills. A few years ago, Helms tried to kill the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act (name for an AIDS victim who caught AIDS through a blood transfusion as a young child) which provides care and treatment for AIDS victims. In the bill he slipped an amendment (which was later removed) that would prohibit the money from being used to either promote homosexuality or intravenous drug use. This theory would allow the money to instruct heterosexual men on how to, say, use a condom but not a gay man. A similar measure created by Helms attempted to prevent schools from teaching students about gay lifestyles or providing counseling to gay students. This aroused the ire of Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn), who stated that homosexual teens already have a suicide rate three times that of normal teens and denying them counseling certainly isn't going to help the problem. In addition to these, Helms also has held up legislation in order to promote the reinstatement of an individual with similarly bigoted views as Helms. A previously unimportant government employee was the equal opportunity manager in the Department of Agriculture office in Athens, GA. The individual was fired due to his anti-homosexual comments, which are obviously not good for an individual in charge of promoting diversity within the department. Helms, as he does with many battles, eventually lost and the employee never went back to promoting diversity through bigotedness. 

These issues only skim Helms' depth of bigotry against homosexuals. A stockpile of humorous/frightening Helms quotes regarding homosexuality could probably fill a junkyard. These quotes include:

"These people are intellectually dishonest in just everything they say or do. They start by pretending that it is just another form of love. It's sickening."

"The New York Times and The Washington Post are both infested with homosexuals themselves." The Post, he charged, "caters to homosexual groups. Just about every person down there is homosexual or lesbian,".

He's also refused to apologize for making statements that homosexuals who die of AIDS deserve their fate. He wrote back to one mother that he was sad only for her son's decision "to play Russian roulette with his sexuality."

He's referred to homosexuals as "weak, morally sick wretches"

"I am not going to put a lesbian in a position like that. If you want to call me a bigot, fine." Helms on why he was opposing the appointment of a woman to a post in Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Helms was one of only three senators to vote against Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court nomination. He stated that she was "likely to uphold the homosexual agenda."

Illegal Fundraising

For all of his criticism of Clinton's shady fundraising (most of which is valid criticism), one would think that Helms would have a clean slate himself. Like almost every politician, Helms doesn't. Helms has committed a wide variety of questionable acts, ranging from creating a "Jesse Helms Center" that receives money from foreign companies to creating a conservative organization that acted, largely, as a money funnel for campaign donations. In addition, Helms has always been strongly pro-tobacco and has received a lot of tobacco money.

The Jesse Helms Center was created to preserve the works (what little there are) of Jesse Helms. It includes congressional documents and other such memorabilia. It also appears to act as a center for questionably legal donations. Many of the contributors to his center are companies or countries that Helms often acts in the interest in. It's illegal for foreign governments to donate money to a political campaign, but not to an independent center. The Jesse Helms Center has used this to raise large sums of money for itself and also as a way for foreign countries to give money to Jesse Helms. Taiwan, which Helms supports, donated $225,000 to the center in 1993. Kuwait donated $100.000 to the Helms Center after the Persian Gulf War. In addition to foreign countries, american corporations have also donated heavily to Helms' center. Unsurprisingly, tobacco companies have been big givers to the center...R.J. Reynolds Tobacco donated $750,000, Phillip Morris $200,000, and United States Tobacco $100,000. If the center was simply something set up by a few independent citizens for individuals to 'appreciate' Jesse Helms, the donations would not be suspicious. However, Helms' links to this center are hardly passive.    Helms' wife and daughter serve on the Board of Directors of the center along with his foreign relations chief of staff and a former chief legislative assistant. In addition to the rather close links on the Board of Directors, Helms also evidently helps to set up some of the donations. Notes next to several donations indicate that some needed the assistance of Helms. "Need to set up through Senator Helms office," said the comment by United States Tobacco. "Need to facilitate activity through Senator Helms," said the notation by Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., which gave $5,000. These notes would seem to indicate that these companies needed to meet with Helms which, in all likelihood, means that they needed a favor from Helms.

Another group that raises questions about Helms' fundraising is the now defunct Coalition of Freedom. Jesse Helms used to serve as its honorary chairman and promoted the group. Helms, however, quickly ended his relationship with the group when it was revealed that the group was being investigate by the IRS. The reason for this was that the organization acted as a money funnel for congressional campaigns (including Helms' PAC the National Conservative Club). A large sum of money was found to have gone to Jefferson Marketing Inc. which was a political consulting firm run by two of Helms' cronies. While the coalition paid $881,000 to Jefferson Marketing for a variety of projects, few of the projects contracted were ever completed. Oddly enough, the Coalition didn't seem to have a problem with that
which would seem to suggest that they were funneling money to the group. The Coalition also used its tax-free contributions to donate to other conservative groups that would have been taxed.

Along similar lines, the Federal Elections Commission filed charges against Helms' PAC, the National Congressional Club. The suit alleged that the National Congressional Club and the previously mentioned Jefferson Marketing were a single entity. The two groups violated federal elections laws by not disclosing this on reports to the FEC. Jefferson Marketing frequently produced ads for only select individuals (ie. conservative ones) and generally produced them at a discounted rate. A former Representative, Charlie Rose (D-NC), charged that an election commercial produced against him was worth much more than his opponent paid for and that Jefferson Marketing was an extension of the National Congressional Club. The FEC found that this was true and that it constituted an illegal campaign donation by Jefferson Marketing. The FEC found that Jefferson Marketing "has been at all times dependent on the Congressional Club" for almost all of its revenue, has received interest-free loans from the club, and was "created, financed and controlled" by the National Congressional Club through the club's managing officials, R.E. Carter Wrenn and Thomas Ellis. The two organizations were created by the same people (Wrenn and Ellis), reside in the same building and employee many of the same people. ***For fun trivia, Thomas Ellis is even more bigoted than Helms is. Wrenn and Ellis have plotted much of Helms' strategy over the years and have been powerful allies of his. Before Jefferson Marketing (and during the Reagan years), Ellis was forced to withdraw his name from contention for a position on the Board for International Broadcasting, a presidentially appointed position, after it was revealed that he distributed racially orientated literature as a Reagan supporter in 1976. The pamphlet stated that Gerald Ford seemed likely to pick a black running mate in 1976 and implied that this was a terrible tragedy. Ellis also served on the board of the Pioneer Fund from 1973-77. The group's mission was to fund research into racial genetics and churned out reports about how the white race really is superior, etc. Ellis also had extensive holdings in South Africa under apartheid. 

Drugs & Tobacco

It's a well-known fact that Helms is one of King Tobacco's best friends in Congress. Any statesman coming from North Carolina is likely to be friendly to tobacco interests, but Helms has taken it to extreme. Helms occasionally shows up at places with a baseball cap with the letters "friends of tobacco" emblazed on the hat. However, Helms support of addictive drugs goes a bit deeper than tobacco. While Helms regularly rails about addictive drugs, he has been far from puerile in discouraging other countries from engaging in drug trafficking. Much like the Reagan administration, Helms encouraged alliances with rebellious organizations in Central America that were affiliated with drug trafficking in order to reduce the risks of communism breaking out.

Helms frequently talks about the dangers of drugs such as marijuana, narcotics, etc. but fails to complain about one of the more addictive drugs around: nicotine. Over the course of the past decade, Helms has happily accepted $112,250 from tobacco PACs. Their money has not been misplaced, as Helms has consistently supported the tobacco industry. He's taken more money from the tobacco industry over the course of his career than any other politician and the money appears to have been well-spent. When he was Chairman of the Agricultural Committee in the Senate, Helms used his position to defend tobacco interests. Now, he's head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has made statements that he will use the post to promote tobacco interests overseas (and evidently he has). In the early 80s, Helms went to bat for American tobacco companies in regards to an increase on imported tobacco filler. The American tobacco companies were for it and, therefore, so was Helms. Helms wrote letters to the head of the U.S. Customs service asking him to pass a favorable judgement on the tobacco tariffs. Helms also said in his letter that a favorable outcome in this case was vital to his reelection drive in the next year. Helms blatant support for the tobacco industry coupled by his admission that he might not win without tobacco's support created a mild uproar, and Helms was investigated by a House subcommittee. Unfortunately, little seems to have come out of it. Politicians in bed with King Tobacco

Helms is the legislator responsible for introducing a law that forces a crack dealer, a drug traditionally sold and used by blacks, to be sent to jail for five years without parole. Oddly enough, almost all crack dealers/buyers are black, while the equally dangerous and highly similar drug cocaine is abused by rich whites (and holds only a small penalty in the legal system). Laws such as this, while probably racist, would seem to indicate that Helms takes a hard-line stance towards drug use. However, when the USSR was still a strong communist nation, Helms found communism far scarier than human rights abuses (more on that in the foreign policy section) or drug kingpins. In one instance, a Nicaraguan rebel group strongly supported by Helms (the ARDE), was found by the Kerry Committee to be heavily involved in drug trading. Incidentally, this group also received a lot of funding from the CIA, but the CIA drug connection is another story entirely. Helms supported this group strongly in the past by writing letters to then President Reagan to resume and increase support of ARDE. There were strong rumors of the group being linked to George Morales and other big time drug dealers, but Helms seems to have paid these no regard...even after news reports surfaced that there were many links between the ARDE and drug pushers. Months after the Associated Press ran an article on the links, Helms was still trying to convince other congressmen and Reagan to support the ARDE. It also seems likely that Helms met with the leader of ARDE in Washington (the leader was also probably a drug dealer). 

The situation in Nicargua was hardly isolated. When Helms was a rabid anti-communist, he didn't care what the anti-communist countries did, whether it be traffic drugs or shoot its citizens. In Bolivia in the late 70s and early 80s, the president and other high-up officials, in addition to committing numerous civil rights abuses, were deeply involved in cocaine trafficking. The US had cut off foreign aid and refused to deal with Bolivia due to the extensive ties between its government and drug trafficking. Helms, however, evidently saw no problem with it and wrote letters to Bolivia's president in December of 1980 stating that he would do his best to promote the Bolivian government in the United States. It's highly unusual for a senator to offer to work on behalf of a foreign government (although they are periodically contacted by them). In this letter, Helms wrote, ''I am impressed with the progress Bolivia has made in recent months in providing security for its citizens, which is among the most fundamental of human rights, despite the misguided policies of our Government. I assure you that, as chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Senate, I will call for a re-examination of our policies toward Latin America,'' he added. In addition to drug dealing, many members of the Bolivian government were involved in torturing political dissidents. This didn't stop Helms from meeting with the Bolivian Interior Minister Luis Arce Gomez. In addition to his involvement in cocaine trafficking, Gomez was directly responsible for paramilitary security forces that had been torturing political dissidents.  

Foreign Policy

Helms, surprisingly, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Out of all the 100 senators, he's probably the least qualified, both from a knowledge standpoint and from a diplomatic standpoint. Over the course of his years in the Senate, Helms has committed many heinous acts in regards to foreign policy. A quick look show that Helms has singlehandedly prevented several major treaties from being passed (although most eventually did, after being held up for several years). Helms has prevented or delayed the passage of the following international treaties: United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (ongoing, to the best of my knowledge. The treaty would ensure equal rights for women worldwide. No one is real sure why he objects to it, although it may just be blatant sexism), the Chemical Weapons Convention (which was negotiated under Reagan, signed by Bush, and debated under Clinton...It would ban the creation of Chemical weapons in war. Only Iraq and North Korea refused to sign it. We eventually did), and the nuclear test ban treaty. In addition to this, Helms regularly holds up or prevents the appointment of nominated individuals that he doesn't approve of. He upheld the post of Mexican ambassador in 1997 because he claimed the appointee, William Weld, was too soft on drugs (Weld supported the medical uses of marijuana). The real reason, say many insiders, is that Weld has never made it a secret that he considers Helms to be an ignorant redneck. Helms is also one of the chief leaders in the effort to avoid paying the United Nations its dues. Helms regularly complains about the United Nations, such as when Bacre Waly Ndiaye of Senegal, a U.N. Human Rights Commission special investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, came to visit. Ndiaye asserted that some death sentences result from a trial "which fall short of international guarantees for a fair trial". While few contest the fact that we've probably executed a few innocent men (which should make anyone wary of the death penalty), Helms had this to say. "Is this man confusing the United States with some other country or is this an intentional insult to the United States and to our nation's legal system?" Helms's letter asked. "It is clear that Mr. Ndiaye's strange 'investigation' is intended to be merely a platform for more outrageous accusations from U.S. critics at the United Nations."

As has been mentioned, historically, Helms hasn't cared too much about what sort of foreign leader he dealt with so long as they were against communists. The list of dictators that Helms used to support would occupy a very large space, but I'llskim the key ones. The recently arrested Chilean dictator Pinochet, is currently on trial for human rights abuses. His government regularly killed and tortured political dissidents. When Chile's Foreign Minister came to town while Pinochet was still in power, most congressmen gave him a cool response due to his country's poor human rights. Not Helms. Helms met him for about an hour and then announced, ''We have an obligation to give Chile equal treatment. The Chilean system is not much different from what we have here.'' I, personally, am shocked to hear Mr. Helms admit that some political dissidents in America are maligned and that the death penalty might not be the best way to dispense justice). Another dictator that Helms has supported is Mr. d'Aubuisson, who directed El Salvador's death squads. When he was accused of plotting to assassinate the US ambassador, Helms refused to believe it and vigorously defended d'Aubuisson to the point that he leaked sensitive information on a speech on the Senate floor. 

Miscellaneous Scandals

CBS takeover: In 1985, Helms became sickened by what he seemed to think was a liberal bias at CBS. Many conservatives believe that there is a strong liberal slant to the newsmedia (while the left strongly believes there's a conservative slant). In order to combat this, Helms formed an organization run by his political allies called Fairness in Media (NOT Fairness and Accuracy in Media (FAIR), the leftist organization that investigates media bias (much more accurately than the right does, in my opinion)) that tried to organize a takeover of CBS and turn it into a conservative news network. In order to do this, Helms had Fairness in Media mail out a million flyers asking conservatives to buy up 20 shares of stock in CBS. The odds of this succeeding were incredibly unlikely, as Helms and crew would have had to put up about $1.5 billion for the stocks, a highly unlikely prospect. Helms did, however, earn two things. The first was a pile of media attention and the second was the beginnings of an investigation into a few of the organizations (like Jefferson Marketing and the Pioneer Fund) that seem to illegally float around Helms. Needless to say, the investigations didn't help him very much at all.

This predicament caused the San Diego Union-Tribune, on January 23, 1985 to run the following article. The introductory paragraph asked readers to imagine CBS under Helms and then gave what it felt CBS under Helms would be. The article was written by Johnathan Freedman.

"The Evening News" with Dan Rather would become "The Evening Lecture" with William F. Buckley.

"As the World Turns" would become "As The Third World Twists," a soap opera set in a Communist-controlled banana republic being invaded by CIA guerrillas.

"Sixty Minutes," with Mike Wallace, would become "The Sixty-Minute Sermon," with Rev. Jerry Falwell leading a team of moralists investigating corruption in American homes, factories and religious centers.

"Dallas" would become "Raleigh" -- the melodrama of a rich tobacco farmer courageously fighting for his subsidy against the evil surgeon general, a villain who says lung cancer is bad for your health.

"Monday Night Football" would be canceled, because it might promote gambling.

"Family Feud" would be a political thriller dramatizing the feud between a true conservative Republican, played by Jesse Helms, and a weak-kneed moderate, played by Bob Dole.

Saturday morning cartoons would be replaced with animated chores.

Late-night movies would give way to a religious film festival, hosted by Charleton Heston in white robes.

Housing scandal: It appears that Helms also is a slumlord...and he misrepresents it on his taxes. Helms, along with individuals like J.C. Watts, seems to be a republican so obsessed with cutting taxes that he decides to cut some of his own. Helms failed to disclose several of his real estate properties throughout the years, evidently as an effort to "hide the fact that the senator is a millionaire slumlord", to quote a North Carolina Democrat. Helms tried to escape this predicament by claiming that his wife had misled him about the value of their holdings. He claimed he didn't know what their value was or how many there were. In addition to lying about his holdings, it appears that he is a slumlord. Some of the apartments had been without heat for over six years. The difference between what Helms reported and what he owns is as such: He reported that his wife owned nine properties valued between $250,000 and $500,000. In reality, Helms owns 15 properties with a total value slightly over a million. The rental properties are located in some of Raleigh's poorest neighborhoods and have been cited by building inspectors for many different problems ranging from lack of heat to leaky pipes, rotting floors, and broken doors. Some residents reported being without heat for 30 years. Drug deals also occur around some of the apartment buildings which doesn't seem to bother Helms much despite his hardline stance against drugs. According to another landlord in the same area: "I think the biggest problem is there is never any upgrade, no attention given to the property," Patterson said. "You can't do anything but call them slum landlords."