Pentagon Debunks Crazy Republican Conspiracy Theory That Obama Is Taking Over Texas

Republicans like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) helped to push a conspiracy theory that President Obama is sending the military in to take over Texas, but the Pentagon has thrown cold water on the GOP’s hysteria.

In a letter, Gov. Abbott directed the Texas State Guard to monitor the military’s training exercise. Ted Cruz said that he sympathized with the conspiracy theorists, “My office has reached out to the Pentagon to inquire about this exercise. We are assured it is a military training exercise. I have no reason to doubt those assurances, but I understand the reason for concern and uncertainty, because when the federal government has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy in this administration, the natural consequence is that many citizens don’t trust what it is saying.”

After Republicans had given in to the crazy, it was up to the Pentagon to stop the insanity. (via McClatchy DC):

“Operation Jade Helm poses no threat to any American’s civil liberties,” Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday. “Operation Jade Helm is being conducted by Americans – by, specifically, American special forces personnel.”
…
“In every case, extensive coordination has been completed with whoever’s responsible for that land,” Warren said. “In the case of private land, we’ve spoken and made detailed coordination with the patriotic Americans who have volunteered their land for the use of this important training.”

Here is a newsflash for conspiracy loving Texas Republicans. President Obama doesn’t have to take over Texas. You are still a part of the United States of America. Barack Obama is your president. He is the guy in charge. Obama isn’t coming to seize your guns, your land, your Dallas Cowboys foam finger.

The Operation Jade Helm conspiracy demonstrates a problem that is not limited to Texas. The Republican Party is driven by conspiracy theories. House Republicans are currently wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on an eighth congressional investigation into Benghazi. Republicans spent millions of dollars investigating the IRS. There was a years long and party wide obsession with President Obama’s birth certificate.

The rest of the country can’t take the Republican Party seriously, much less trust them to govern when they are being guided by baseless conspiracy theories. No matter who wins the party’s nomination, they could be fatally undercut by the strain of crazy that is running rampant through the GOP.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association