Naked City

The following rant is personal – written by an angry white male, and one who has, for the first time in his life, been disenfranchised. – L.N.

A few days ago, one of the CD 10 candidates – I can't remember which now, not that it matters – left a flyer hanging on my doorknob informing me that for the first time ever, Hallelujah!, we residents of northeastern Travis Co. have the "opportunity to elect a Republican." Actually, I remember nine previous times during my residency in Austin that I could have elected a Republican, and I turned it down, every time. Of course, this is not an "opportunity" – it is a dictate. I will have a Republican "represent" me whether I like it or not. It seems Tom DeLay decided that our old District 10 – compact to the point of almost roundness, encircling that rather obvious "community of interest" known as Austin – didn't serve the needs of the ascendant Republican jihad, and had to be redrawn into a mess that sprawls from my house in the Crestview neighborhood, across the farmland of Bastrop, Lee, Burleson, Washington, Austin, and Waller counties, into the suburbs of Houston. Outside of the shared bond of Texas citizenship, I can't imagine what I have in common with any of the residents of those counties, but they are now my DeLay-decreed "community."

It is a district that is so hopelessly gerrymandered for DeLay's partisan ends that not one single Democrat could see fit to even symbolically file to run. And thusly, I am wholly disenfranchised from the U.S. government – as far as the federal elections go, there is no reason for me to even go to the polls. I cannot vote for the congressman of my choice, because the Republican primary (in which I will not participate) will make that choice for me; there is no Senate race this year; and because of the Electoral College and Bush's lock on Texas, I effectively have no vote for president in November.

And even if I did decide to jump into the Republican primary, what would my choices be? Even a Bill Ratliff-esque moderate would be welcome, but in the new CD 10, the options are right or righter. Former Judge John Devine boasts that he "received national acclaim for his legal victory against liberal activists who sought to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom." Dave Phillips pledges his support to the PATRIOT Act and boasts "regular gun show attendee" among his qualifications. Austinite Teresa Doggett Taylor's selling points are that she is "a product of a loving two-parent Christian home" and that she at one time performed with Up With People. Brad Tashenberg vows to "stand strong to overturn Roe v. Wade." The worst of the lot live in that right-wing fantasyland where liberals control our world: Pat Elliott swears, "I've had it up to here with what is a frightening downhill slide that I believe is making our country weaker, not stronger," and Ben Streusand warns, "Congress wants to eliminate President Bush's tax cuts, continue to recklessly spend our money, and weaken our immigration laws. As a principled, conservative Republican, I'll fight against these liberal policies." Hey Pat and Ben, news flash: Your Republicans control all three branches of government now. To which Congress do you refer? It damn sure ain't the United States one.

For the first time in my life, I have an inkling of how blacks, Hispanics, and women must have felt in days (not quite) gone by. No, I don't for a second equate my situation to theirs – at least I get to show up at the polls. But for what? To stare at a ballot on which the choices have already been made for me. You want a choice? You want a say in your government? Too bad. Screw you. So sayeth Tom DeLay.