Once you've decided ...

Let's say that one has gone on record already and endorsed either Bush or Kerry - given one's "definitive" statement. In what spirit then does one approach intelligent commentators who make a strong case for the opposite? Surely any concession will be qualified with a "but ..." Making one's mind up - which can hardly be avoided - seems to involve a certain amount of stubborness, namely, that which attends a matter which one wishes to have settled.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, for, I trust, obvious reasons. It came up again this morning, as I noted that Andrew Sullivan had some positive words to say about the Bush endorsement from "Jane Galt." But - and I don't mean this as any kind of atttack on Sullivan; he's just a noteworthy touchstone - surely it's almost inconceivable that he would reverse himself and write a Bush endorsement for TNR to override his recent piece coming out for Kerry.

Yes, the psychology of decision and resolution is quite interesting. As I often do, I think of Nietzsche, whom Freud praised for extraordinary self-insight. I quote Nietzsche a lot here, which might give the misleading impression that I fancy myself a Nietzschean, or buy in to his foundational claims. He is one of my favorites, though, to whom I turn again and again for provocation, amusement, and to be challenged.

"Once the decision has been made, close your ear even to the best counterargument: sign of a strong character. Thus an occasional will to stupidity."

(Beyond Good and Evil, Epigrams/Interludes, 107 - trans. Walter Kaufmann).