Jesse Helms died today, on the fourth of July.

He did a very good thing in working on increasing aid—America’s “historic $5bn aid package for the world’s poorest countries”—through Jubilee 2000.

“As the president put it in his speech: “Dick Cheney walked into the Oval office, he said, ’Jesse Helms wants us to listen to Bono’s idea.’”

Bono: “(The) Edge was pleading with me not to hang out with the conservatives. He said, ’You’re not going to have a picture with George Bush?’ I said I’d have lunch with Satan if there was so much at stake. I have friends who won’t speak to me because of Helms. But its very important not to play politics with this. Millions of lives are being lost for the stupidest of reasons: money. And not even very much money. So let’s not play, Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Let’s rely on the moral force of our arguments.

“…I went to people like Jesse Helms, who had been very tough on the the concept of foreign assistance and very bleak on Aids. He’s a religious man so I told him that 2103 verses of scripture pertain to the poor and Jesus speaks of judgment only once - and it’s not about being gay or sexual morality, but about poverty. I quoted that verse of Matthew chapter 25: ’I was naked and you clothed me.’ He was really moved. He was in tears. Later he publicly acknowledged that he was ashamed…”

(all quotes above from:) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/mar…