Sample some of the obituary tributes/denunciations written after Jesse Helms' death at 86, and you'd think the five-term senator from North Carolina must have been twins. And not identical ones.

One Jesse Helms grew up to be a Southern gentleman, unfailingly generous and fair - to all - in his personal relationships.

He would be an early and foresighted supporter of Ronald Reagan's campaign to restore American confidence - not to mention the American economy - after the disastrous Carter years.

An outspoken patriot, he put some backbone into the nation's foreign policy once he was in a position to do so as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In his latter years he would prove a stalwart campaigner against AIDS and a vigorous supporter of programs to alleviate poverty in Africa. The man was capable of rising above his prejudices.

If there was one constant of his political career, it was his unfailing determination to expose the brazen hypocrisy and rampant corruption at the United Nations, where no dictatorship seems to go unflattered.

Let it be noted that, right or wrong (and he somehow could be both at the same time), Jesse Helms never hesitated to stand up for what he believed, even if he had to stand alone.

In short, the man was a kind of fighting saint.

Then there was the other Jesse Helms, his evil twin. That Jesse was a racist demagogue who exploited the deepest fears of his constituents, perhaps because he shared them.

His political tactics were as crude as they were effective. A familiar type in these latitudes, the populist agitator, he divided to conquer. He would do or say just about anything to win. That included stirring up fear and hatred of homosexuals by exploiting the panic over a then-new plague called AIDS. In many respects, he was a throwback to the worst of the bad old days.

In short, the man was a hopeless sinner. Continued...