Former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) died in the early morning of the 4th of July, according to news reports. Helms was first elected to the US Senate in 1972; he retired at the end of his fifth term (30 years) in 2002. When Republicans held a majority in the Senate, Helms chaired the Agriculture and Foreign Relations Committees.

Helms had to fight to retain his Senate seat, however. In 1984 he defeated sitting Governor Jim Hunt; in in 1990 and 1996 he defeated former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt.

Born in Monroe, NC, on 18 Oct. 1921, Helms attended, but did not graduate from, Wake Forest College and served in the Navy during World War II. In 1950, he campaigned for segregationist Senate candidate, Willis Smith; he subsequently served as the Senator's chief aide. In 1957, Helms won a seat on the Raleigh city council. He became a commentator for WRAL, Raleigh, in 1960, and was later city editor at The Raleigh Times.

On the web: Bloomberg, MSNBC, Washington Post / Newsweek.

Remembering Jess Helms - Tom Head, Civil Liberty

The Rev. Patricia Templeton, rector of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in northwest Atlanta, reflects on the phrase "God Bless America" in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

[It] seems to me that too often "God bless America" has become less a prayer and more a battle cry. Less a call for God's protection and guidance, and more an arrogant shout of superiority, a demand that God bless this country above all others...

Recently I reread Mark Twain's essay "The War Prayer," written in the early 1900s in response to the Philippine-American War. The piece is set at a church service held to send the town's young men off to war... Twain's daughter urged her father never to publish "The War Prayer" because it would be seen as an affront to both Christians and patriots. Indeed, it was not published until 13 years after Twain's death.

At the risk of causing offense, I believe there is great sense in what Twain's stranger said; that his warning is one we should all heed on this holiday on which God will be called on countless times to bless our country in a time of war.

Way back when (2005), Comedy Central's Jon Stewart gave fans a (pale) green light to share show content after it ran on the traditional tube:

Wired: The Daily Show really exemplifies that sort of new model. It's on a cable network, not broadcast. It's among the most popular shows traded online. People download and watch the whole thing, every day. Were you guys aware of that?

Karlin: ... If people want to take the show in various forms, I'd say go. But when you're a part of something successful and meaningful, the rule book says don't try to analyze it too much or dissect it...

Stewart: ... I look at systems like the Internet as a convenience. I look at it as the same as cable or anything else. Everything is geared toward more individualized consumption. Getting it off the Internet is no different than getting it off TV.

Maybe Stewart and Karlin weren't speaking for Viacom at the time. Or maybe muckety-mucks ignored it because Viacom was focused on how to spin off a large chuck of itself as CBS Corp. But the handlers at Viacom had to have known what they said.

Read more...

Since 2005, arrests by the US Border Patrol have dropped annually. For 2006, the drop was 8%; for 2007, arrests dropped another 20%. For the first six months of 2008, the drop is 17%. You probably won't read this in US media; I found it in this week's Economist.

Will this deflate the issue of illegal immigration come November?

One of the best lines: "The Department of Homeland Security is budgeting $12 billion in the net fiscal year to guard the frontier against job-seekers (and the odd mythical terrorist walking to his target). If trends continue, we'll arrest about 600,000 this year; that's about $20K per arrest.

See Immigration Fence Delayed, US Immigration As A Percent of Population, Poll: Does immigration have a positive or negative impact on the US?