What do we do now?

What do you do when a nemesis dies?

Are we really defined by who we....hate is a strong word (maybe), perhaps dislike more intensely than any other human in the entire world?

Jesse Helms died early Friday morning.

For a liberal in North Carolina, Jesse was the personification of all that was wrong with the world. He was intolerant, condescending, unkind. And, he did all of it knowingly and openly in the name of patriotism and democracy, making it very hard to fight against him.

Jesse played upon people's worst instincts. He played upon their fear of others who were different, whether that difference was in the color of their skin, their beliefs, or who they loved. He made it very clear that those who were different that us (him) were to be ridiculed, and that their rights, feelings, emotions were not to be taken seriously.

And sadly, he did this very, very well. He did it with folksy humor; he famously once opposed funding for the North Carolina zoo, saying it would be cheaper to put a fence around the University in Chapel Hill (not nearly as pinko-commie as people thing, but certainly WELL to the left of Jesse).

He knew our baser emotions, and he played upon them. He ran what remains to this day one of the dirtiest, most negative political campaign in the nations history, a Senate race agains Jim Hunt in 1984. In another senatorial race, against Harvey Gantt, an African-American, very popular mayor of Charlotte, Jesse was behind in the polls....until he ran an ad showing a pair of white hands holding a layoff notice, with a voice over about how they EARNED that job, and DESERVED that job, but it was given to someone else.

And, quite frankly, Jesse defined liberals in North Carolina for a long, long time. Because he was the "face" of North Carolina in political circles, those of us who didn't share his views had to be more vocal, and more open. I once had a bumper sticker that read, "I'm from North Carolina....and I DON'T support Jesse Helms". I met Bella Abzug once at a family wedding, and when she learned I was from North Carolina, she was decidedly distant...until I explained my view on Jesse! I had a friend when I lived in New York who maintained her permanent address in North Carolina solely so she could vote against Jesse in his last senatorial race.

And now he's dead. I've tried hard never to wish someone dead; to paraphrase Dumbledore, it may be that there are many people who are alive who deserve death; but there are also many who are dead who deserved life; until you can heal the former, don't be so quick to pass judgement on the latter.

But this was Jesse. He used his role as a politician and a leader not to enlighten, not to raise his constituents, not to try to make the world better, but as a tool to divide, to promote hatred and intolerance. And he did this because hatred, fear and intolerance were what kept him in power and gave him his influence.

So, where do we go from here? Will the void from Jesse's death allow a more, shall we say, enlightened leader to rise to the front? But, honestly, I don't know who that person would be. Or, without a vocal and visible nemesis, will liberals in North Carolina drift away, and think they no longer have to speak out, and make sure that people know their beliefs?