If it lurches too far rightwards, the political karma could be swift.
Cooper, too, could be swift and able with the spoken word.
Each had complete control over both the tracks and trains, forming integrated regional railways which could make swift decisions about maintenance and spending.
"We had consulted extensively over the summer with our bodies, which meant that we could take swift and informed decisions immediately after the settlement," she said.
But with mosquitoes or mice or many of the invasive species that scientists hope to curb, the transformation could be swift.
Three times the driver had to get out and lock the van's axles into four-wheel drive so that we could ford swift, rock-choked rivers.
Although it lost the support of some of the Senate's most conservative members, the broad coalition that pushed the accord across the finish line could portend swift House passage as early as New Year's Day.
Mr. Payne said that because Mr. Stern, as the parks commissioner, could encourage swift adoption of a new name, "a proposal from him would carry a lot of weight".
For its part, the United States seems determined to strike any missiles it finds in the south or the north to ensure that an attack could be swift, decisive and uninterrupted.
In theory, this should be the perfect answer for polarised, indecisive Israel; in practice, the record of Israel's previous national-unity governments has been poor, with little achieved on the Arab front.But if Mr Barak were able to pull together a reasonably like-minded coalition, the advance towards a Palestinian settlement could be swift.
