On Sunday, May 11th, the self-titled Killer D’s bounced out of Texas for a period of four days, effectively killing a piece of Republican legislation. These 50-some people that make up the Democratic part of the Texas House of Representatives were protesting the Republican push for a new district map to annex seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. New districts are usually drawn up every ten years with the census. However, the Republicans were upset with not being properly represented in the nation’s congress. Democrats can definitely empathize in regard to our past presidential election.

According to the Killer D’s, democracy prevailed. While I can’t agree with them on that point, I can certainly understand their reasons for leaving the state. I, too, have felt frustrated with the Republican supremacy that is running rampant in our country.

The utterance of a leftist ideal is swiftly combated by name-calling. You’ll either be a pacifist, unpatriotic, or you’ll be acting in a way that is insensitive to our troops overseas. In fact, being called a liberal implies a certain amount of stupidity and naivety.

All the more frustrating, the 2004 elections are looking pretty grim for the Democratic candidates. If the economy recovers, I guarantee an incumbent victory. As long as our country is at war with foreign entities, we will be more united, and our president will be supported.

Since the 9/11 attacks, Bush’s approval rating has soared. For this reason, Bush is planning to run a brief campaign close to election time. No doubt, this tactic will help him escape some of the criticism he received for being intellectually challenged while debating other candidates. After all, the less time he’s debating, the more time he can focus on his rhetoric-laden pep talks.

Luckily for Bush, he doesn’t have to rely on the I’m not Clinton routine anymore. He has built a sturdy foundation of trust. Our country is being spoon-fed soup ladles full of propaganda and no one is criticizing. Acts are being passed that limit our freedoms, but the president knows best. If you disagree, then you are unpatriotic and liberal to the extreme.

The liberal news media has not helped the situation. People say the war coverage brought the conflict closer to home. Baloney. This was the first time in the history of human existence where a group of guys could pound some beers while watching the news. It was like watching a football game, but we knew who was going to win.

The coverage further numbed our feelings toward the war. No one questioned the acts of the military or of our president. There was no forum for debate. The first night the president spoke about the war, I constantly flipped through the channels to find international response. Was I surprised when I couldn’t find any? Not really. Newscasters seemed to be more concerned with the president’s choice of tie than with dissent over seas. I felt very disappointed and defeated.

The fact that lawmakers had to flee the state of Texas to put down legislation scares me very much. I am glad the legislation was killed, but the ends do not justify the means of forsaking American ideals.

Shame on the Democrats, but also shame on the Republicans for trying to pass legislation nonessential to the people of Texas in the last three weeks of session. There are more important things to discuss. The Killer D’s agreed to come back early in the week if the Republicans promised to kill the redistricting. Apparently, the need for power was overwhelming and no promise was made.

Someday, our illustrious president will fade into the background. Sadly, it probably won’t be until that day that I will feel all is well again in the world of politics.

Bush is the single largest source of frustration for me. Why his approval rating is so high is befuddling. 9/11 fell into his lap, and how he reacted should have been expected, not applauded. The war with Iraq produced good results, but once again the ends don’t necessarily justify the means.

The only way for him to impress me is if he is tough on Israel. Let’s see how he fares with a truly difficult situation. My guess is cowardice will prevail.