Gov. Greg Abbott Thinks US Military May Try To Take Over Texas, Orders Up State Guard

In office exactly 100 days, and already Texas Tea Party Republican Governor Greg Abbott is showing his lunacy. 

No, this is not from The Onion.

The U.S. military is conducting training exercises across wide parts of a few states in the nation. They’ve been transparent and have contacted state authorities to make them fully aware of their actions, but some folks in Texas have a love of the crazy, so it wasn’t long before conspiracy theorists began to insist the federal government, via the U.S. military, is going to take control of the Lone Star State.

The training exercise, dubbed Jade Helm 15, is set to last two months and begin later this summer. It will span “much of the Southwest, requiring special forces from four branches of the military to carry out covert operations amid ‘hostile’ territory in Texas, Utah and part of California,” the Washington Post reports.

“Online and at in-person meetings, many Texans have expressed suspicion and outright opposition to the project. Some are understandably worried about how it’ll affect their daily lives, while conspiracy theorists claim it’s an attempt to institute martial law, possibly in collusion with Wal-Mart.”

Because, of course, Wal-Mart, right?

“In response,” the Post reports, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has ordered the State Guard to monitor federal troops there during the exercise.”

Just in case Obama decides to declare martial law?

Governor Abbott’s move is the very essence of not only poor leadership, but destructive leadership. As governor, he is supposed to be the adult, yet by ordering up the State Guard, he’s giving credence to the conspiracy fears that have been the DNA of the Tea Party and the Alex Jones mentalities which have plagued the nation throughout the Obama years.

Need proof?

At an information session in Bastrop on Monday, command spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria fielded questions about whether Jade Helm 15 will involve bringing foreign fighters from the Islamic State to Texas, whether U.S. troops will confiscate Texans’ guns and whether the Army intends to implement martial law, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

“It’s the same thing that happened in Nazi Germany: You get the people used to the troops on the street, the appearance of uniformed troops and the militarization of the police,” Bastrop resident Bob Wells told the Statesman after the meeting. “They’re gathering intelligence. That’s what they’re doing. And they’re moving logistics in place for martial law. That’s my feeling. Now, I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong. I hope I’m a ‘conspiracy theorist.’”

And a few crazy tweets about #JadeHelm15:

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license