From the Dec. 30 Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

"District 97 mystery.

"Dan Barrett - a Democrat and a trial lawyer - bested a Republican pediatrician in the Tuesday runoff for a Texas House district that has been reliably Republican for three decades.

"The uniform question in the aftermath of what some consider a stunning, near inconceivable outcome is 'How could this happen?'

"Folks seeking a definitive answer will be disappointed because there isn't one."

The above three sentences are quoted directly from the paper's editorial page.  The Republican pediatrician who lost is Mark Shelton, referred to only as Shelton throughout the editorial, as if everyone in Fort Worth knows who the Republicans are and need no further identification than their last name.

The editors are absolutely flabbergasted that something this "stunning," "inconceivable" could happen to upset the natural order of Republican rule.

To offer some enlightenment to the editors at what is locally called the "Startlegram," a fitting description with this editorial, there actually is an answer to how this could happen.  The answer has nothing to do with who the opponents were, the answer is that one of them was not a Republican.

Even in the heart of the reddest city in the reddest county with the reddest legislative district in the reddest state in the union, deep in the heart and soul of Bush Country, people are beginning to understand that the Republicans, led by the uber Republican, George Bush, have despoiled, sacked, robbed, plundered, pillaged our country.

Even the hard-core, dyed in the wool, never say die, conservative to a fault Republicans now understand that our country has been robbed not only of its treasure, but also of its decency, its egalitarian principles, its democracy, its legal system, its judicial system and the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, put there for the express purpose of preventing what the Republicans have done.

The editors at the Star-Telegram still don't understand this.  They don't understand that a braying jackass would have had just as good a chance of winning that election as Dan Barrett, just as long as it was not a Republican.