The Washington Post Series makes clear how Cheney operates and explains how a quality of his that has been elusive works – persistence. He and Karl Rove share a quality. Just when you think you’ve got them stopped, or cornered, they both slide out the other side. They keep turning up and before you know it, they’ve come out on top. The Post has example after example with Cheney. We know about it with Rove – the 2000 election, the Fitzgerald Investigation. They’re both like wildfires, just when you think you’ve gotten one under control, they reignite somewhere else – some place you think you’ve already controlled.
The term used in wildfire management is "containment." First anticipate the path of the fire. Then draw a perimeter and extend fire control around the entire fire. Hold the perimeter until the fire within dies. We know about the extension of the rule of containment with the U.S.S.R. We contained them until they "burned out." That seems to be what the Democrats are trying to do with the Bush Administration. Of course we’d like otherwise. We’ve lived with this malstrom for so long – we want the damn fire put out! But, I have to admit that given the level of entrenchment they’ve achieved, fighting the battle of containment is better than the alternative. Hammering at the accessible edges, making sure they don’t break out in the already controlled part of things [DoJ], shrinking the perimeter. It’s the best we can do right now. It’s sure a lot better than this time last year.
M, I don’t think of wildfires to describe Cheney and Rove, I think of cockroaches. You know how those bugs hide when you turn the lights on. Why do you think Cheney likes to keep us in the dark.