I know it makes no sense to any rational person, Bowser, but Wingers place an insanely high value on consistency. Better to stay the course than to admit error.

Where does it come from? I think that two main factors conspire to create that attitude. One is anti-intellectualism, with a resulting bias towards following "received wisdom" instead of computing a new course in response to new situations. The other factor is authoritarianism, under which The Leader is seen to be diminished by admitting error; and perceiving even a hint of human fallibility in The Leader leads to severe anxiety and insecurity among the followers.

It all trickles down on The Leader's lieutenants. To the same degree that they gain authority working for The Boss, they inherit the same obligation to never admit error, in a double bind: They must protect not only their own authority, but The Leader's authority from which theirs derives. When a lieutenant sees the error of his ways and confesses, it has to be dismissed as betrayal, for fear of undermining faith in The Leader.

I know that one should never completely trust appearances, especially in judging someone who's chosen PR for a career, but after having watched more than an hour of Scott McClellan explaining himself in TV interviews, including one sustained 45-minute segment with Olbermann...I think he just might be trying to tell the truth this time. You can see it in his sometimes hangdog expression, the crinkle of pain around the eyes when he's probed on his part in all he describes. He's coming out of the first phase that John Dean warned him about, when he discovers who his friends really are, and last night in a short interview there was a noticeable set to his jaw. The Bushies burned their bridges with him trying their usual smear tactics, and now he has nothing to lose.