Jesse Helms’ casket might as well be on a rotisserie, because he’s spinning in his grave right now. Last Friday, a federal judge in North Carolina cleared the way for marriage equality in the state that the late Senator served so ignobly. Good thing that Helms, who called us “weak, morally sick wretches,” wasn’t alive to see it, because it would have killed him.

However, someone with a fine sense of poetic justice decided to send a message to Jesse in the great beyond. (We won’t speculate just where that might be.) Propped up against Helms’ tombstone was a newspaper heralding the advent of same-sex weddings in the state. We bet that Helms never expected to see that on his tombstone.

And just in case you think Helms is a relic of the past, here’s a reminder that he’s not. Sen. Ted Cruz, the beloved of the Tea Party, has said that “we need 100 more like Jesse Helms.” Apparently, that old time homophobia just won’t die.

Photo credit: Facebook/Chuck Nintzel