as if he hoped the answer would change

Via War and Piece, an LA Times article about Cheney and his staff's war with the CIA:

When Cheney visited the CIA, Iraq was his main focus, particularly in the months before the war. Unlike Libby and others working with the vice president, Cheney was reportedly always polite. But in his quiet way, he was insistent, sometimes asking the same question again and again as if he hoped the answer would change, according to people familiar with his contacts with the CIA.

Lately I keep thinking about the famous line from the Sherlock Holmes stories,

"It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts..."

That's what I think about when I'm having conversations with Republicans who believe Delay's troubles stem from nothing more than a vindictive and partisan prosecutor. That's what I think about the WHIG.

True, we all make Holmes' capital mistake from time to time. Trouble is...very few of us are in a position to have any deaths result from it.