Jesse Helms portrait & his ‘caring heart’

[G_j]

http://shuler.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?gpiv=2100050319.106776.186&gen=1

Jesse Helms portrait & his ‘caring heart’


November 19th, 2009 by John Grooms in Boomer with an Attitude

Wingate University in next-door Union County is home to the Jesse Helms Center. The JHC’s newest project is a portrait of Helms by artist Rene Dickerson, which was unveiled last night in D.C.’s ultra-conservative Capitol Hill Club. A crowd of Jesse fans oohed and aahhed when the portrait was revealed, and Union County D.A. John Snyder III, who once worked for Helms, said the portrait (or “picture,” as he called it) “captures his (Helms’) caring heart and his humility.”

We assume Snyder is talking about the caring heart that fought like crazy against any and all attempts to achieve equal rights for women and African-Americans; the caring heart that rose to fame as a race baiter and opponent of all civil rights bills; the caring heart that fought against the Clean Air Act and supported clear-cutting in North Carolina’s national forests; or the caring heart that repeatedly voted against Head Start, funding for day care, aid to colleges and college students, vocational education programs, and funding for handicapped education. Or maybe Snyder meant the caring heart that strongly supported a constitutional amendment that would force all women to carry a pregnancy to term, regardless of the woman’s desires or the circumstances of her impregnation, including rape and incest; or the caring heart that railed viciously against gays and lesbians, and opposed combating AIDS in this country (although he eventually supported the fight against AIDS in Africa, where most of the victims at least have the decency to be straight). Yeah, maybe that’s the caring heart Snyder’s talking about. As for portraits of ol’ Jesse, I prefer the one Creative Loafing ran on the cover three or four years ago, shown here.


(this is not the portrait mentioned LOL)




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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/1063727.html


Helms portrait's realistic attitude delights crowd

By Barbara Barrett
Washington correspondent
Posted: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009


WASHINGTON More than 100 of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms' family members, friends and associates gathered Wednesday night to see the senator's portrait unveiled in one of congressional Republicans' most distinguished enclaves, the private Capitol Hill Club.

As attendees sipped wine at an evening reception, artist René Dickerson, his heart pounding, fumbled with the black cloth draped across the portrait he spent some 100 hours painting.

"I hope I was able to capture some of the essence of Senator Helms," Dickerson said to the group.

Helms' widow, Dot, stood nearby, apprehensive.

The cloth dropped, and the room gasped. "Yes!" shouted one man. "It's beautiful," breathed a woman. The room broke into long applause.

Dot Helms smiled.

"I thought it was very good," she said. "He had that twinkle in his eye, and he captured it."

..more..

[gratuitous]

1. Does it sing "Dixie" until someone cries?

Yes, caring heart and humility. Uh huh.

[G_j]

2. it's hard to believe the artist is an African American

:wow:

[G_j]

3. ==

[bridgit]

4. I just clicked in to ask, "So how's that 'humanity thing' working out for you these days, Jesse?"

[Blue For You]

5. I would have loved to been at the unveiling...

with a big, fat juicy tomato!

[Starry Messenger]

6. They couldn't get Thomas Kincade to paint it?

:hide: