He is the South when the South was Post Civil War and North Carolina had a viable Sons of the Confederacy. The CSA (Confedeate States of America).
Everyone thinks of the Rebel Flag as being the flag of the Confederacy, but, that is not the case. The Rebel Flag was a battle flag, not the sovereign flag.
Helm's North Carolina was tobacco fields, cigarette producers and military bases. Textile mills and the difference between that and the tobacco slaves was the color of their skin. The Poor White Trash that were owned by the mills. They were white, but, they were as slaves as any of any black man after the Civil War.
Very ugly history. History Helms never visited so much as implied. The right to fire anyone at any time, basically "The Right to Work" laws are all based in impoverishment and keeping people 'in their place' and manageable. The Southerns became masters of enslavement Post-Civil War.
So, I am not surprised his name made it's way to the surface. It has been a short period of time since Helm died and yet North Carolina is still sifting through it's bigotry and oppression. Oppression is long lasting. One can say that Helms is responsible of the lack of work to North Carolinians today. The economy of Helms is gone. The mills are closed and outsourced. The tobacco industry can't poison people's lungs anymore.
The military towns are still intact. Helms built a mini-USA in North Carolina. Every branch of the military, except, NASA. Helms could not wrench the space program from Houston. But, in actuality where would he put it? He had the nukes already at Cherry Point, he was just missing the ICBMs. But, in a pinch I am sure he could convince Pope Air Force Base to act in emergence if necessary.
He was a mean man that enjoyed being mean. He was the poster child for Dirty Harry and "Make my day." He is indefensible. He was a horrible human being that was loved by the people of North Carolina for all the federal monies he could skim from the treasury. Basically, that's it. He is not glamorous. He was a horrible person in every aspect of the word. Why discuss Helms? Makes no sense to me. Someone whats to emulate him and bring his politics back to life? Then Senator Cruz is best thought of as a foreign born Senator as he'll have to go to China to find Helm's economy.
