The legislative bill, which instigates the controversy and events taking place in this book, calls for two separate days for primary elections. The presidential primary would be held on a different day than other political offices. The Senate, however, is to discuss another bill concerning the election, bill 1149, but it is foreseen that the house will send back the bill amended, providing for a separate-day primary. The reason for converging thoughts on bill 602, the one concerning a separate-day primary, was its effect on the

This took place in 1979, a time when Democrats were the Texas majority; only four of the thirty-one members of the Senate being Republican. The 602 bill would require a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which would keep it from being considered due to lack of support, but if 1149, which is more favorable, gets to the house and then sent back with provisions for 602 only a majority in Senate would pass it. Lieutenant Governor, presiding officer in the Senate, Bill Hobby posted notice that the Senate would be switch to a less traditional rule. This gave Hobby ability to switch to “regular order of business” on Friday, which allowed for the pending election bill, 1149, to be decided on. That prior Tuesday, a filibuster by some of the killer bees kept the bill from being resolved; therefore, this overcame their hope to kill it. The name, killer bees, was actually first given to Senator Lloyd Doggett and Senator Ron Clower by Hobby for their use of filibusters in anti-environment and anti-consumer legislation. These two and Senators Parker, Mauzy, Schwartz, Jones, Patman, Truan, Kothman, and Vale made up the ten that together met at Parker’s legislative aide, Dora McDonald’s for breakfast on that Friday and refused to go to the capital building and perform their Senatorial duties. Also missing were Longoria, who had a previously scheduled court date, and Brooks, who did not clearly take sides with either the bees or Hobby. The Senate, therefore, did not have two-thirds or 21 of its members, which is necessary for them to hold session. The killer bees accomplished their mission, to break the quorum, and defeat Hobby’s attempt to pass the new bill. The rest of the book describes their hiding in the McDonald’s one room apartment and the call placed on the Senate issuing a statewide search involving the DPS for the missing Senators including Longoria, whom sided with the bees and Brooks, who was in Oklahoma and kept his intentions covert to everyone. Two Senators need to be found in order to conduct business in the Senate giving them the two-thirds attendance. Heard gives many accounts of Hobby and the remaining Senator’s anger and disgust of the current situation.

Heard’s use of the media in the account depicts only one side of general opinion. Robert Heard himself is a news writer. Any event that calls for news coverage is already good to one who works for the media. Important happenings attract the public eye. In order to win viewers, listeners, or readers concerning stories of conflict, the media picks a victim and an assailant, and then imposes their side of the story on the public. As though fiction, the writer

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