North Is No Hero, Simon Says to Boos and Jeers

Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) was greeted by a chorus of boos and jeers Monday when he told a national convention of county officials that Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North should not be portrayed as a hero.

“I don’t question the sincerity of Lt. Col. North, but he is not an American hero,” the candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination said at the National Assn. of Counties convention.

“No one deserves the hero rank who admits he lied, he deceived, he shredded evidence, he violated laws of the nation he swore to uphold,” Simon said. “Our heroes should be people who uphold the law.”

Simon was booed twice during his description of North, but he later was cheered by many among the 4,000 delegates as he again said heroes should abide by the law.

President Reagan addressed the convention after speaking on his “economic bill of rights” at a meeting at Danville. Both Simon and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, also a Democratic presidential candidate, attacked Reagan’s economic policies in their speeches to the county executives.

“We shouldn’t confuse the aura of the presidency and the likability of the man who holds the office with the flawed policies that are harming your counties and our nation,” Simon said.

He said that Reagan’s backing of spending restraints and balanced budgets is “like W. C. Fields leading the charge for Prohibition.”

Dukakis, one of seven potential presidential candidates speaking to the convention, called Reagan’s economic bill of rights “a dreary list of item vetoes and budget balancing amendments and super majorities for tax increases.”

“I hope you’ll tell him that you and I have a different vision for America,” Dukakis said.