Political Polarization and the Passing of Jesse Helms

I've been blogging for some time, but I'm still blown away by the left's vitriol at the death of Jesse Helms.

Helms was the perfect warrior for the traditional right wing, so his demonization is understandable. The Wall Street Journal puts it plainly in its editorial:

Helms was a conservative populist, and his campaigns were not above demagoguery....

Like the political shift across the South and West in the last decades of the 20th century, Helms's political rise was a reaction to the collapse of liberal governance. He sought to reassert traditional American values, and above all to defend U.S. freedom against Soviet tyranny.

I noted the left's hall of shame yesterday, and more conservative voices are sharing their thoughts as well.

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UPDATE: South Beach Bum commented at my earlier post, perhaps to get an outlet for his hatred:

It's just amazing how you see very little negative about him in the mainstream media, even though he was one of the most hated men in America in the last 40 years. I just wish his death had been more excruciatingly painful and that he had suffered more. He ranks in my book as the lowest of the low. America has produced few people as so completely evil and without a single redeeming quality. I am so glad he is finally dead. I've been waiting for this day for almost thirty years.

I think Helms was "one of the most hated" only on the left.

For yet another example, see Firedoglake, "Jesse Helms: Bigot, Racist, Homophobe."