Compare and contrast

"Laura and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our good friend and a great American: Senator Jesse Helms. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Dot, and all the members of the Helms family.

"Throughout his long public career, Senator Jesse Helms was a tireless advocate for the people of North Carolina, a stalwart defender of limited government and free enterprise, a fearless defender of a culture of life, and an unwavering champion of those struggling for liberty."

Hendrick Hertzberg - The New Yorker

"Far too late for it to do anybody any good, Jesse Helms has died. He has done so on Independence Day, which, since he was born too late to own slaves and in too liberal an age to allow him to outlaw sedition, will forever be his only resemblance to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. It is rude to speak ill of the dead. Luckily, I did so ahead of time."

I'm with Hertzberg.