text: Once there was an evil Android with no heart, no soul, and definitely no brain. This evil Android was one of the most important people in the government of the country of Texas. How many lies did the Android tell in order to be elected into a position of great power, with an amazing salary, and many lovely benefits, paid travel, and great prestige. It was a dream job that few Androids could secure. The Android was very happy to take the position and the salary, but he wasn’t actually willing to do the work to earn that salary or the respect that came with the job. He had won the election; he would get the money... but he absolutely did not care about the people of the country of Texas. One day, a huge snowstorm hit the normally very warm country, but the government had not taken care of the equipment necessary to protect Texans lives. Equipment failed. Outdoor temperatures were lower than ever before. People were freezing to death in an environment that was normally quite warm... people had no heat, no water, and no way to obtain food. The situation was dire, and people were literally dying from the conditions they were in. As time passed, the people began to find that they were receiving power bills that were in the high thousands of dollars, yet in reality, if they had actually had access to the power grid, their bills would be much, much lower. It was another slap in their faces. It was devastating proof that they were at the mercy of a cruel Android who really didn’t care if they lived or died, as long as he got what he wanted and needed, and was paid a high salary to do a job he neglected to do. People were sad; they were angry; they had been betrayed by someone they had trusted to do the job they hired him to do. They got sick; they got abandoned; they got overcharged for electricity they didn’t receive... and many of them died from the horrible conditions they could not control. The people of the country of Texas were faced with so many problems just trying to survive the storm that raged day after day. The snow was very cold, and their power was shut off because the government, which the Android was in charge of, had failed to maintain the equipment necessary to provide power for heating their homes, provide them with drinking water, and trucks to remove the snow from the roads so they could safely go buy food for their family. All this was happening during the greatest pandemic of their lifetimes. Many people were ill from the pandemic and now they were suffering greatly because of the storm. Did covid-19 patients die from lack of electricity to run the machines needed to keep them alive? We don’t know. Many people not in the hospital died. They had no way to stay warm. Their phones eventually died from lack of power, so they couldn’t even call someone who cared. They were cold, they were hungry, they were frightened and they felt abandoned. They had trusted the Android to insure that they would be safe in their time of need... yet he had abandoned them, and flown to Cancun for a vacation. All of the people wished they could go on a vacation to a warm, sunny place with lots of water, and food to eat. But they couldn’t afford to fly to Cancun for a vacation. They were trapped in the horrible storm. Their pets died... and then their friends and relatives died. Would they be next? They were struggling to survive the dangerous storm... but the government the Android was in charge of had failed them. The Android had failed them. They were either in the threat of death or they had already died. They had no hope. Their chosen leader had failed them. The Android had decided this was a great time to go on a vacation, so he abandoned the people of Texas and went to Cancun on a pretend vacation. When caught, he lied, about whether the vacation was pre-planned; he lied about why he had gone; he lied about whether the people he was hired to take care of had been taken care of; and whether it was ever in his power to take care of the people who trusted him to do his job. He sunk so low as to blame his young daughters for him going on vacation. People now knew that the Android had lied to them, and that he had abandoned them in their greatest time of need, then lied to them about his “planned vacation”. Many people were dying from the horrible conditions, and the Android had just gone on an unplanned vacation. Even when the Android suddenly returned to Texas, he still did nothing to help them. He just didn’t care. Now, it is up to the people to prevent the Android from further damaging their lives, if they survive the terrible storm. The people became aware that the story of a little girl, a cowardly lion, a heartless tin man, and a brainless scarecrow was much better... because they did not desert anyone when things got rough. The group had survived... but they had hope and they weren’t in a storm of the century. But the situation in Texas was not a story... it was very real, and very deadly. Yet... where was their elected official Android when they needed him to help? He had taken the money they had paid him to protect them. He had flown to Cancun to be warm; to eat well; to enjoy life. He had abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. The people of Texas will need to remove the horrible Android from his position of power... a power that he took advantage of at the cost of many Texans lives. Even when he returned suddenly, he did very little to improve the situation. For many of the people of the country of Texas, the losses they had suffered were great, and probably would never be rectified; the family and friends who had died would never be a part of their lives again. There were many people left... but they would never forget those loved ones they had lost. They must go on without them. Can they succeed? Will they fire they fire the Android? We can hope they do.