COURAGEOUS DECISIONS: Oliver North writes on the naval engagement at Midway in World War II. What is striking about the story is not the courage of those who fought, but the contrast of leadership then versus leadership today. Here’s North’s final paragraph:

Notably, neither President Franklin Roosevelt nor Chester Nimitz, the tall admiral from Fredericksburg, Texas, took credit for the victory. They gave it instead to those who fought the battle. And unlike what would happen today, a "leak" about how our code breakers provided the decisive "edge" in the Battle of Midway -- first carried in an article in the Chicago Tribune and later carried in Time magazine -- did not get picked up in Tokyo. Now we have WikiLeaks -- and small-minded officials who want all the credit.

Indeed.