IT'S LIKE THIS

The trouble with making an analogy is that, after you've made a single point with it, it tends to break down. Then your intellectual opponent starts arguing about how wrong you were based on the failure of the points you weren't trying to make. Eventually someone gets called a Nazi, Godwin's law kicks in, and everyone loses interest in the discussion.

There are exceptions, though. Every once in a great while, an analogy is discovered that is so perfectly apt, that one can extend it to COMPLETELY cover the subject under discussion. When you can read the same metaphor for 20 minutes, see no flaws, and not get bored, then you have witnessed one of those rare events that most people would describe as miraculous.

Or maybe it's just a talented author.

Via Tammi of Road Warrior Survival, I was directed to Kat of The Middle Ground, who says that fighting the War on Terror is like stirring up a hornets' nest.

By describing, in detail, what dealing with a hornets' nest actually entails, Kat has produced one of the best long essays I've read outside of Whittle or Den Beste.

Don't take your coffee, though. You won't be bored, so you won't need it to stay awake. And there are certain spots that you definitely don't want to be drinking during. Here's one of my many favorite passages:

You call the guy across the street with the Peugeot and Citroen in his garage (France). He too thinks you are a stupid bastard for messing with the hornets nest. If you had just left them alone, they would have gone about their business and hardly bothered you. Besides, he has a hornets' nest on his porch and he just swats them when they get too close. He also thinks that the hornets can change they're behavior if you introduce some different things into their environment; like classical music. That should keep them calm. He says that his grandfather swears by that technique. No need to try and destroy the nest. He also wants to collect the honey (oil) from the hive because it tastes really good on his baguettes in the morning. Why couldn't you have just done the same? Besides, why should he get stung for YOUR mess?

Plenty more where that came from.