
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993                   TAG: 9306150392
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NORTH NOT FOR MADISON'S VIRGINIA

OLIVER North, with millions of dollars of political money behind him, is moving ahead in Virginia politics. He is getting ready to run for the Senate seat now held by Charles S. Robb. Some media make the mistake of comparing North's and Robb's past legal problems as if they were similar.

Not in defense of Robb - he can take care of himself - but if Virginians begin to believe that the two men's problems were alike, it could make North's record look less damaging. He shouldn't be elected to any position, regardless of whom he is running against. Even if Robb's critics are 100 percent correct (he has never been found guilty of anything), his offense was a minor one that would have called for a small fine.

On the other hand, a jury found North guilty of three felonies that threatened him with 10 years in prison, a $750,000 fine, the loss of his Marine pension and the inability to vote or hold office for the rest of his life. His prosecutors had dropped more serious charges, because they could not pursue them without using evidence that North's former colleagues had chosen to call military secrets.

North's lawyer found a loophole, based on the conduct of Congress, and had North's conviction thrown out. Under protections of our Constitution, North should not be punished unless his trial was technically perfect. This does not mean that in judging his qualifications for elective office we cannot consider his trial and its outcome.

The most essential part of our government's structure, which we owe mainly to the genius of James Madison, is the separation of powers of government among three branches, and the requirement that each branch respect the powers of the others. Founders of our nation believed that this was the best, if not the only, way to preserve us from tyrants. It isn't too much to say that without this stroke of genius we would not be the United States of America.

North violated this principle repeatedly, and has never repented. He has gone around the country bragging about his conduct and collecting more than $20 million from those who don't know any better.

He is injecting himself and his money into the workings of the Virginia Republican Party and the 1993 elections for statewide office and the House of Delegates. We need a strong Democratic Party and politics based firmly on the Constitution.

It would be a catastrophe to have James Madison's Virginia fall under the influence of North. AUGUSTUS C. JOHNSON SYRIA

by CNB