dad, husband, music educator, apparent cinephile and musical theater nerd
San Antonio, TX
Joined December 2010
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James Buxton retweeted
True. Certain Trump allies, including childhood friend Peter Ticktin, have discussed martial law and commandeering ballots if midterms are seen as rigged, per Axios on a Sept. 30 activist call. No evidence of rigging is reported. Legal experts note the president lacks authority, as states and Congress control elections. Any attempt would face court challenges and potential delays in certification.
James Buxton retweeted
Barack Obama at his last press briefing with reporters, 2017:
"I have enjoyed working with all of you. That does not, of course, mean that I've enjoyed every story that you have filed, but that's the point of this relationship. You're not supposed to be sycophants. You're supposed to be skeptics. You're supposed to ask me tough questions. You're not supposed to be complimentary, but you're supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power."
James Buxton retweeted
I usually don't comment on politicians' posts. Making an exception for a timeline. Dates and quotes only.
2022:
- @KenPaxtonTX tells the Supreme Court "The University of Texas was wrong" to use race in admissions
- @tedcruz leads a brief signed by @JohnCornyn and 80 other Republicans: race-conscious admissions "inflict a heavy toll on Asian-American students"
2023:
- @GregAbbott_TX signs a ban on DEI offices at state universities
- The Supreme Court rules their way. UT stops considering race
Since then:
- Texas law auto-admits the top of every high school class by rank, as it has since 1997; this year, the cutoff is the top 5%
- 90% of freshmen must be Texans by law
- 4% of undergrads are international per @UTAustin's 2025-26 Common Data Set
9/13/2026:
- @bofrench, Republican nominee for Railroad Commissioner, posts a photo of South Asian students at UT and calls it "the problem"
- As of writing this post, two students in the photo have spoken to reporters. Both are US citizens
9/14/2026:
- Asked about it on the Mark Davis Show, French says letting UT administrators "select their preferred groups of people" is racism
- His fix - "prioritize Americans"
Race-blind admissions were requested and delivered. Changing who is in that photo would require bringing back affirmative action, which the Cruz-Cornyn brief called "unconstitutional on its face" and French even said letting UT administrators "select their preferred groups of people" is racism
Sources:
- Paxton brief ("The University of Texas was wrong"): texastribune.org/2022/10/31/…
- Cruz-Cornyn brief, filed 5/9/2022, both quotes and signer list: supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/2…
- SB 17, signed June 2023: compliance.utexas.edu/sb17
- Top 5% rule: texastribune.org/2024/09/16/…
- 4% international undergrads, UT Common Data Set 2025-26: utexas.box.com/s/z5p8zzbr6yk…
- The students in the photo: texastribune.org/2026/09/14/…
- Mark Davis Show quotes: kut.org/politics/2026-09-15/…
- "Prioritize Americans": kxan.com/news/texas-politics…
Thanks to @vedantnair__ for inspiring me to post
James Buxton retweeted
There’s a pretty simple explanation for that UT photo.
For years, the top 6% of Texas high school students got automatic admission to UT. Now it’s the top 5%. It’s completely colorblind. It’s just class rank.
Asian kids are about 5% of Texas graduates, but roughly 21% of the kids hitting a 1180 SAT/24 ACT benchmark. Absolutely kicking ass.
And UT’s own numbers make the “foreign students” explanation pretty hard to square. Only about 4% of UT undergrads are international students.
What we’re looking at is immigrants and the children of immigrants doing all the things YOU SAID you wanted immigrants to do: come here legally, work hard / succeed academically, and assimilate into our culture.
Check. Check. Check.
I’m starting to think your problem with this picture might be something else entirely....
James Buxton retweeted
Hegseth didn’t inherit a nightmare. He hired the cast from Fox & Friends, ran off the professionals, and then acted shocked when the war went exactly how the grown-ups said it would.
James Buxton retweeted
A letter to our Senators and Representatives.
Gentlemen,
I am a 64-year-old American that has worked and paid taxes since I was fifteen years old. I have never taken any type of handout from anyone, including the US government. After 49 years of working, I have decided to retire, at least partially. According to you, it’s “early retirement”. I don’t consider 49 years of working, “early”. Had I been a government employee I could have retired 29 years ago, or had I been a senator, I could have retired, what… 39 years ago? with full retirement pay and free healthcare for life.
Because I retired before reaching my “full retirement age”; which is decided by you, I have a reduced Social Security payment, which you refer to as a “benefit”. I see it as a return of my money that I have paid in for 49 years. This reduced payment is not enough to live on. The payment at full retirement age is not enough to live on. I have to work some, to supplement my income, but low and behold I can only earn a certain amount (which is still not enough to live on) and then you start docking my Social Security.
Apparently, I earned too much at some point because I just received a letter from the SSA stating that my next three SSA payments will be cut in half, and the real kicker is I still “owe” $38.00. I can’t work more to make up the difference because I will only be further penalized.
It is extremely infuriating, as an American citizen, to be treated this way. Look at the amount of fraud, look at the number of people, many of whom have never paid a dime into the system, receiving free benefits from the government. Look at the billions paid to and on behalf of illegal immigrants. All I want is the money I paid in and a chance to retire in peace.
James Buxton retweeted
BREAKING: Former US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Trump to inform him that the Iran war was making it impossible to achieve foreign-policy goals, with Trump talking exclusively about his ballroom in response, causing Driscoll to resign believing the admin was "doomed," per Dominic Michael Tripi.
The military's largest service is now vacant, as it has no Secretary, no confirmed Chief of Staff, no confirmed Army general in charge of operations, and no confirmed commander of Army troops in Europe.
Deputy Under Secretary of the Army Dave Fitzgerald is expected to resign this week as well.
James Buxton retweeted
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis is calling on Trump to fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following Dan Driscoll’s resignation as Secretary of the Army:
“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Tillis said.
James Buxton retweeted
The day after the 2020 election, the Trump campaign asked data analyst Ken Block to investigate allegations of voter fraud. He was a registered Republican at the time. His company, Simpatico Software Systems, was was paid more than $700,000 for the work.
He later wrote, "In the swing states, just a tiny handful of dead votes were cast. The Trump campaign looked extensively at this issue. I know this because they paid me to do the research."
"We examined every mail ballot vote in the swing states looking for dead voters. We found a couple of dozen...not enough to change a result anywhere. The handful of prosecutions for this crime that I know of in Pennsylvania were committed by Republicans."
James Buxton retweeted
Dolly Parton was super rich. Yet no one hated her because of her wealth. Because she didn't use her wealth to bend rules and buy politicians to get more wealth. No one hates rich people. They hate greedy people.
James Buxton retweeted
An ICE agent scanned the wrong license plate, chased the wrong man, and ended up shooting Julio Sosa-Celis through his own front door. DHS’s first story: Sosa-Celis attacked agents with a broom and snow shovel. City surveillance video proved that was false — the whole struggle lasted about 12 seconds. DHS admitted its agents gave “untruthful” sworn testimony. Charges against Sosa-Celis were dropped with prejudice.
The agent, Christian Castro, is now charged with 4 counts of assault + falsely reporting a crime. He fled to Texas.
Greg Abbott is refusing to extradite him. Minnesota’s AG just sued Abbott to force it.
A Republican governor is actively shielding a federal agent from facing trial for shooting an innocent man and lying about it under oath.
Texas, you have a job to do in November. And then justice can finally be delivered.