THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140536
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
It may surprise Oliver North that Thomas Jefferson, whom he often invokes, termed civility the greatest quality. It tends to assure rational discourse, which Jefferson prized.
Of course, North has a right to demean himself by calling anybody a bonehead or yahoo, as he has in speaking of the president, but the epithets denote a scant vocabulary and weak thought processes. The words are more suited to a back alley or network talk show.
He would better have conveyed in detail why he hates Clinton and let the reader supply the term.
Of graver concern was North's charge that Saddam Hussein is able ``to move with impunity'' in Iraq because the president has created ``a hollow military.''
Vice President Al Gore said that North's remarks increased the risk faced by American soldiers by inviting Hussein ``to miscalculate our actions and resolve.''
Brent Scowcroft, George Bush's national security adviser, dismissed North's remarks as ``rubbish.'' Leaders of both political parties commend Clinton's steady course in the crisis.
Even Sen. Robert Dole, defending North, did not second-guess the president's approach.
For years, Virginians balked at any attempted White House intervention in state politics.
When President Truman once said there were ``too many Byrds, B-y-r-d-s, in the Senate,'' gleeful U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd exploited Truman's quip to the fullest.
Now and then, Byrd was at odds with every president. At no time during 40 years at the wheel of the Democratic machine did he stoop to name-calling. He focused on issues.
Nor has any other Virginia leader showed such a lack of class as North exhibited. They would be appalled at the thought of denigrating a president while the country was rallying to his side.
North also declared: ``Bill Clinton is not my commander-in-chief.''
Seeing adverse reaction, North said he meant that he was no longer in uniform; but the thrust of his assertion was to question Clinton's capability as troops were being deployed to call our foe's bluff.
North's attack on the commander-in-chief was incredibly ill-timed. Had he been in uniform he would be up for insubordination at the very least.
The episode is revealing. His defense, always, is to bleat that he was misquoted or his words were taken out of context. But he is on tape, a refutation of his own hedging.
Four national magazines and many articles have delineated his flair for fabrication. North calls them biased. He refers, archly, to the staid Reader's Digest as the ``Reader's Disgrace.''
But this past week he played out several distortions in full view. His handlers apparently aim to keep him away from the press. Who will mask his inadequacies for six years if he is elected?
North's followers will stick no matter what he says. But the undecided may feel impelled to gauge the candidacies of independent J. Marshall Coleman and U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb. Both will be in the open, all the way.
North calls to mind the crawfish of childhood, advancing with upraised claw but, when confronted, retreating amid a muddy cloud.
He has pledged to change the Senate. Should he win, the change bids to be for the worse.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES by CNB