Our Jesse

From R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator:

WASHINGTON -- I have been reading an advance copy of memoirs written by Jesse Helms, the retired North Carolina senator who braved the liberals' indignation to create the politics that now prevails on Capitol Hill and in the White House, namely, modern American conservatism. Helms did not do this alone, and arguably he was only a member of the first-string team whose quarterback was Ronald Reagan. Yet Helms was very important, particularly on the social values issues that average Americans now deem so compelling. His memoir, Here's Where I Stand (Random House), is a very good refresher course on how America moved from the dreary, futile governance of Jimmy Carter to the present vigor of a proud, can-do America.