“We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield.” That’s from George Orwell’s 1946 essay “In Front of Your Nose.” [Paul Krugman/NYT]
Krugman quoted Orwell in the context of George W. Bush and Iraq. It looks like its applicable to Atal Behari Vajpayee too, yet again.