The chances of two phenomenon, one proverbial, the other political, being so similar that they defy separation, is truly quite eerie.

For example, A.D. Piney the Elder declared that “when a building is about to fall down, all the rats desert it.” Likewise, a more modern saying tells us that rats also leave a sinking ship. This is the proverbial version of rodent desertion in times of impending doom.

“It is not unusual,” avers Piney, “for rats to leave a ship in great masses if it is sinking. Therefore the sight of hordes of rats scurrying to upper decks might suggest to fellow passengers that the ship on the way down.”

This same phenomenon was called to our attention in today’s newspaper, in which a headline solemnly reads: “Other hawks have left, but Cheney still guards the nest.” Hawks and rats are somewhat (but not always) different, however their reason for a quick departure is identical: impending doom. This is the political version of the same natural phenomenon.

One by one, states the newspaper story, the hardline conservative hawks who hung in there with Vice President Dick Cheney when he pushed President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, are now flying the coop.

“This has nothing to do” says Piney, “with the rat’s extrasensory perception or powers of prognostication but with awareness of what is happening at that very moment.”

Cheney, a Bush family loyalist and lackey, seems ready to fight for Bush’s most divisive initiatives: the ongoing Iraqi war, the National Security’s warrant-less eavesdropping program, harsh detention and interrogation policies, and expanded executive authority. But he may have to fight alone because his fellow hardliner hawks have, for the most part, already jumped the Ship of State.

“Rats”, reveals Piney, “are burrow dwellers by nature, so they tend to live in the deepest part of the ship: in the bilge, which is so low as to be almost inaccessible to the sailors. Thus, rats become aware of water leaking into the ship sometime before the crew knows about it.” And they make a beeline to “get the hell out of here” before the crew does.

But when the crew finally feels water around their feet they make a mad dash for exits too, and one by one scramble over each other to get out before the water comes in and the ship goes down. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned (went over the side) first. Quickly followed by Bolton who gave up his temporary assignment as U.N. ambassador because the Senate refused to confirm him.

“As their nesting places get flooded,” Piney tells us, “the rats are impelled to flee the ship. Their continuous shrill cries of alarm quickly summon the rats from the hold.” And in a squealing, terrified mass they throw themselves off the ship in a panicky, scared-to-death exodus.

Former Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, one of the prime architects of the Iraq war, upon feeling the heat (or hot water) quickly resigned from the administration and was promptly rewarded for his abandonment of the Presidential team with head honcho-ship of the World Bank. Proof that getting off a sinking ship is smart, and sometimes it even pays big dividends,

After Wolfowitz flew the coop, more hawks jumped ship.  Douglas Feith, former deputy defense secretary, and Richard Perle, former Pentagon advisor, both went over side as the Ship of State began to list like the Titanic.

“The frightened, mass exodus of rats from a sinking ship,” avers Piney. “is the final calamity for these rodents, because, as a result, once off the ship, these rats will try to swim to eternity…and usually do.”

The neo-cons are deserting fast. Cheney is the only member of Bush’s national security team that seems willing to stay to the end. He apparently doesn’t realize it is only Captain Bush who has a duty to go down with ship. 

But who knows, they may have already decided to establish a precedent by the Captain and his first mate going down together.