Feedback: January 23, 2026

High-pocrisy

Dear Editor,

In his latest salvo against “wokeness,” a 74-page attorney general’s opinion carefully timed for MLK Day (or was it meant for Confederate Heroes Day?), [Ken] Paxton says private companies run afoul of the law if they don’t explicitly disclose to investors the potential impacts on profits of any DEI efforts.

On page 71, he states “…(B)oth federal and state frameworks require ‘full and fair disclosure of all relevant information concerning securities offered to the public.'”

This is the height of hypocrisy – that legal principle was the basis for HIS OWN felony indictments for securities fraud! After trying to run out the clock for 9 (nine!) years with multiple legal maneuvers, he finally avoided a trial by settling the case, paying restitution to those he defrauded and doing “community service” at a food bank.

He was never found “guilty.” But he was never found “not guilty,” either.

Mark Grayson

Put a Freeze on ICE

Dear Editor,

For days, my social media feeds have been inundated with heartbreaking and enraging videos of ICE in Minneapolis: kidnapping citizens, firing flashbangs and chemical weapons in neighborhoods, and shooting those who dare to get in their way. While Austin hasn’t (yet) been invaded by thousands of federal immigration officers, we face the threat of another force working alongside ICE in the coming months: Travis County sheriffs.

Senate Bill 8, passed in the 2025 legislative session and in effect as of January 1, requires that any county sheriffs with at least one jail present in their county – including Travis County – sign on to 287(g) agreements. These contracts require that county sheriffs work with ICE to house ICE arrestees, serve immigration warrants, or even perform joint operations with ICE officers.

ICE has shown this week, as they have since their inception, that they cannot be trusted with power. They are willing to trample anyone who gets in their path of deporting people they deem lesser than, whether those people have citizenship or not. We cannot trust ICE in our communities, and the last thing we need is to give them more enforcement power and resources. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office should refuse to sign these agreements, for the good of our county and our community.

Heather Clark

Need or Greed

Dear Editor,

Donald Trump says he has a “psychological need” to acquire Greenland. It’s not about national security or what’s good for the United States. As a longtime real estate man, he just “needs” to own it. Expanding our presence there to five or six bases, instead of just one, as was apparently previously the case, will not be enough.
Well, Donnie Baby, my advice for you on the matter is this: Find yourself a good psychotherapist. A mature, experienced Ph.D. psychologist or DO/MD psychiatrist should suffice. Probably it would preferably be a woman therapist, because she could also help you with your adulterous impulses, your misogynistic tendencies, your racism, and your sexism. If thoughtful, she might point out the cruelty of your policies toward vulnerable folks, like immigrants and LGBTQ+ persons, and your war crimes on the high seas and in Iran and Venezuela. She might even be able to disabuse you and Stevie Boy Miller of your misunderstandings about actual American values. “Might Makes Right” and “Power Rules” are the agendas of Kim Jong Un, Orban of Hungary, Putin, and Xi Jinping. I realize these are your wannabe role models; but as long as I and millions of American citizens like me are alive and in-country, your longing to be king will remain just that. As it should.

C.A. (Al) Lindsey, M.D.

Appalling, Quite Frankly

Dear Editor,

At what point will the Republican representatives in Congress from Texas and our senators have the courage to stand up to those seeking to impose a fascist state in the United States? The tactics of the leadership of the Republican Party follow the same playbook as all other authoritarian governments throughout history. They have an obligation to their constituents to resist the path taken by Trump and his minions to stop the oppression of all those opposed to his racist policies, foreign adventurism, and targeted illegitimate prosecution of his perceived political opponents or anyone that stands in his way. Trump acts with impunity at every turn claiming recently essentially that he has no limitation on his actions which surely justifies his attempt to take over the Federal Reserve so that it serves his every whim. It is their duty as members of Congress to pass legislation to stop him from launching special military operations (sound familiar?) against friends and foes alike. He acts and they completely capitulate to his actions by not adhering to their duties as a member of Congress. Your constituents are watching and this one quite frankly is appalled.

Scott Stalnaker

Wake Up

Dear Editor,

Based on the poem “First They Came” by Pastor Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the protesters and immigrants in Portland, Oregon
And I did not speak out
Because I do not live in Portland.
Then they came for protesters and immigrants in Los Angeles, California
And I did not speak out
Because I do not live in Los Angeles.
Then they came for the protesters and immigrants in Chicago, Illinois
And I did not speak out
Because I do not live in Chicago.
Then they came for the protesters and immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota
And I did not speak out
Because I do not live in Minneapolis
Then they came for me in New York, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Albuquerque…
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Wake up America. They are coming for you too. You are not safe if you are black, brown, white, female, male, trans, gay, straight, disabled or not, young or old. Unless you kiss the ring of Trump, you are not safe in America. Speak out loudly and persistently, now, before there is no one left who will speak for you. It is happening here. Wake up.

Michael Carey