Senator No v.

SENATOR NO v. GOVERNOR MAYBE

Jesse Helms, political folklore has it, once suggested that rather than expend taxpayers’ money on a state zoo, the North Carolina General Assembly should simply construct a fence around the liberal University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. It doesn’t matter if Helms ever uttered the remark, for its significance is symbolic. Helms is not a man who talks guardedly in the public arena, and even when he is clearly correct—which is more often than his detractors care to admit—he provokes or charms, abuses or coddles, always mindfully and un-apologetically. Thus North Carolina, to paraphrase an old Shirley Bassey song, loves him, hates him, loves him . . .

Featured Tags

Martin Luther King Jr

Conservatism

SENATOR NO v. GOVERNOR MAYBE

Jesse Helms, political folklore has it, once suggested that rather than expend taxpayers’ money on a state zoo, the North Carolina General Assembly should simply construct a fence around the liberal University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. It doesn’t matter if Helms ever uttered the remark, for its significance is symbolic. Helms is not a man who talks guardedly in the public arena, and even when he is clearly correct—which is more often than his detractors care to admit—he provokes or charms, abuses or coddles, always mindfully and un-apologetically. Thus North Carolina, to paraphrase an old Shirley Bassey song, loves him, hates him, loves him . . .