Toughing It Out

Oliver North does not seem superstitious, and thus did not take his beloved Navy's 27-7 shellacking by Army as an omen for what the week ahead had in store for him. He attended the grand old game in Philadelphia as the guest of Navy Secretary John Lehman. North, like the good soldier he insists he is, spent his week without complaining -- and without explaining.

His appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was a contest of sorts, but it ended without a score. North arrived in his formfitting Marine uniform, his chest bedecked with medals ("fruit salad," in military parlance)....