Greg, I respectfully disagree.

Their value position, once again, was that what North accomplished was more important than the law he broke. They do not think the same thing about the rapist, child molestor or poor black drug addict. So certainly it's situational, but the situation involved was what he did, and the political values associated with it, not his race or anything like that. If North had been black, or grown up poor, or whatever, if he had obviously been on a mission from Reagan to help fight communists, I think most right wingers would have supported him.

Whether they are right or not is a different question. I think you and I both agree that they were wrong, and that North should have stayed in jail. But I don't think it's accurate to say the decision was not based on values.