THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Oliver North believes he is a law unto himself. That is why he showed such contempt for Congress during his Iran-Contra performance. If not a perjurer, he is at least a dissembler and a master of disinformation, misinformation, half-truths and the big-lie technique. No wonder conservatives from Robert Dole to John Warner have questioned his fitness to serve in the U.S. Senate.
North's recent campaign flim-flam of the Navy at Oceana is just further proof of his scofflaw arrogance.
He says ``Washington is out of control,'' but the evidence is clear that when he was in Washington, he was out of control. While he and William Casey were aggrandizing themselves at the White House National Security Council by diverting intelligence operations from the CIA into their own hands, Aldrich Ames stole the CIA, did enormous damage to national security and caused several CIA operatives to lose their lives.
North says he knows about Washington's problems, but it is precisely men of his mentality who are the biggest problems in Washington. He has enriched himself by playing the heroic victim of government and the judicial system, but few men have abused the Constitution and ``the system'' more than he.
Oliver North cannot be trusted with power. Personal family problems of candidates are of no interest to me. What is of interest is the conduct and performance of an individual in office. On those grounds, I would gladly nominate North to serve another tour in the Marine Corps, but I would never again trust him to respect, obey, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States in a position of power and authority.
RICHARD A. RUTYNA
Norfolk, Sept. 30, 1994 by CNB