Some say the feud between Nancy Pelosi and Ellen Tauscher has always existed. Some say that it that it is a Hatfield-McCoy stories that goes back generations in east coast politics. But one thing is clear, it erupted in the press during the summer of 2001:

"`They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap. '" -- Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark

Lately, there's been a hunt on for a fabulous beast.  It's being stalked in Ohio by those who think this critter serves to feed the even more fearsome beast known as Diebold.  It's being chased across it's traditional range in Massachusetts by a coalition that spans the political spectrum.  And out in California, the beasts faces the fading fury of he who was the Terminator.

The creature, of course, is the Gerrymander, that serpentine defender of the incumbent and friend to Tom Delay.  But as the hunt intensifies and spreads to more states, the question has to become: do we want to drive the Gerrymander to extinction?  Is it always a varmint, or does it sometimes show a more noble nature?