Have you heard of a brain dysfunction called "perseveration?" A couple of psychologists have written a paper suggesting that the German fighter ace known as the Red Baron suffered from it.

People who suffer from perseveration stubbornly persist in a task even when they know it is doomed to failure. But they become so fixated on the task at hand that they absolutely can not give up on it. In the case of the Red Baron, he pursued a British pilot into enemy airspace even when he knew he was certain to be shot down. The authors of the paper theorize that in the case of the Red Baron, the disorder was brought on by a head wound he had suffered some time before.

Hmmm... A fixation on an unattainable goal.... Extreme stubbornness....

Does anyone know if President Bush bumped his head when he passed out during the pretzel incident a few years ago?

---------------Tony Auth, The Philadelphia Inquirer