Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday slammed “foolishness” surrounding the upcoming Operation Jade Helm 15, calling the mobilization of the Texas State Guard in response to the military exercise “one of the dumbest things I have ever heard” in an interview with Washington D.C.’s NewsChannel 8.

aw_man wrote:
Its all for the sake of controversy and its really getting ridiculous. Texas is a great state, but their ruling class, and the cowboy culture is just becoming a giant derp-fest.

The people of Texas need to wake up and grow up, or deal with this consequences of pulling a Joe Biden in everything you do or say.

-Texas is the textbook example of a WELFARE STATE. All of the major employers and corporations based in that state rely on federal contracts directly, or on grants or federal law/mandates for the majority of their revenue; Dell, Halliburton, Texas Instruments, and at least a couple dozen other multi billion dollar companies.

 insaniak wrote:
So as someone with only a passing familiarity with the intricacies of US militia organisations, am I understanding correctly that the Texas State Guard is essentially a part-time Army Reserve organisation?


And they're being sent out to 'keep an eye' on a bunch of Navy Seals and Green Berets?


If that's the case, and this is really an attempt to take over Texas... just what exactly does anyone expect the State Guard to be able to actually do about it?

 insaniak wrote:
So as someone with only a passing familiarity with the intricacies of US militia organisations, am I understanding correctly that the Texas State Guard is essentially a part-time Army Reserve organisation?


And they're being sent out to 'keep an eye' on a bunch of Navy Seals and Green Berets?


If that's the case, and this is really an attempt to take over Texas... just what exactly does anyone expect the State Guard to be able to actually do about it?

aw_man wrote:


-Like most of the states in the south, African Americans and Latin Americans are treated like second class citizens.

Again I am sorry to any Texans who read this, but seriously, this is the truth and its gotta stop. Denial doesn't help any of us.

Most politicians do this, but especially in the past 15 years, Texas has been screwing us over with these shenanigans. I think Texans need to band together and put a temporary moratorium on this kind of behavior.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Saw this opinion piece on CNN and laughed my ass off:

Spoiler:

Dear America,

I write to you from behind the lines in the last free state of Texas as we prepare to resist the invasion of Jade Helm 15.

While Gen. Travis laid in a supply of extra "beeves" in advance of the Mexican assault from Gen. Santa Anna at the Alamo, we are fearful of running low on Slim Jims and Moon Pies as the Walmarts are turned into detention centers for citizens robbed of their constitutional rights. As POWs (Prisoners of Walmart), we expect to be put to work in the sporting goods department against our will while earning below minimum wage.

We have had one encounter with a commander of the invading force during a hearing in Bastrop, Texas. Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria was deceptively polite and informative but Texans don't fall for those characteristics. We don't need facts. In Chuck Norris we trust, and he has informed us that this is an attempt by the Kenyan socialist in the White House to surrender our country to the United Nations. We have heard the talk that this is a training exercise in seven southwestern states to prepare U.S. troops for new types of war fighting, but Chuck Norris said, "It's not crazy to think Obama would invade Texas."

So that's what we believe.

Of course, a lot of us still think of the Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression," and we are not going succumb to repeated history. In fact, a few weeks before the Jade Helm's leadership incursion, our state legislature listened to passionate arguments to save "Confederate Heroes Day" on the Texas holiday calendar. A law to abolish the commemoration and honor all participants in the conflict was stopped with persuasion suggesting those who fought with the North were traitors, and anyone who wants to pay them tribute should "go to New York."

Our brave governor, Greg Abbott, has ordered the Texas State Guard to establish listening posts to monitor Jade Helm exercises in case America's soldiers come to take our guns, Duck Dynasty paraphernalia, Lone Star beer, pickup trucks, and bass boats. His command has left only a few of us confused. The governor says he honors the military at the same time he sends a message that he distrusts their activities. We are concerned that our previous governor, Rick Perry, has transcended Abbott's intellect. Perry cannot remember three things at once but thinks paranoia over Jade Helm is not warranted.

Related: Pentagon: No Texas takeover plot

We expect the Jade Helm troops to seduce our population with the profits from selling gas, food, and lodging, but we will be vigilant. We have our radios tuned to Texas conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and we have read the text of the U.N.'s Agenda 21 and know that the global elite can requisition even our golf courses without paying appropriate greens fees. We are aware of the cost of freedom in Texas, though, and on a nice 18-hole golf course it can be a hundred dollars a round plus cart fees.

Dissenters are arising in our midst, too, and pose some danger. A suspiciously sane former state lawmaker, Todd Smith, a Republican, wrote the governor to tell him that his "pandering to idiots" had made him "livid." Although Smith served 16 years in the Texas House, he seems to have salvaged a troubling intelligence. He told Gov. Abbott, "I am horrified that I have to choose between the possibility that my governor actually believes this stuff and the possibility that my governor doesn't have the backbone to stand up to those who do. I'm not sure which is worse."

But be not afraid, America. We are Texans. We will resist logic and intelligence to the very end. And we will keep up our traditions. From the Alamo to the Battle of Goliad, the Confederacy, LBJ's Vietnam, George W. Bush's Iraq War, and even Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys, we have a long legacy of losing. And the odds are also against us in the coming Battle of Jade Helm, but we expect to prevail against the invaders, and we will not give up our rights.

Or our air conditioning, cold beer, and Slim Jims.

Signed,

A Patriotic Texan

 Manchu wrote:
Meanwhile, here in Virginia:

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday slammed “foolishness” surrounding the upcoming Operation Jade Helm 15, calling the mobilization of the Texas State Guard in response to the military exercise “one of the dumbest things I have ever heard” in an interview with Washington D.C.’s NewsChannel 8.

source

Relapse wrote:
It amazes me somewhat that there seems to be a generalized painting of Texans as ignorant morons from several posters here that bristle when talking about the unfair generalizing of minorities in a similar fashion.
While I agree that this whole Texas is being invaded concept seems very left field, I would say most Texans are going , "what the hell?" when this was announced.

Relapse wrote:
I agree. That's why I'm wondering how people bought into the invasion concept.

 timetowaste85 wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Saw this opinion piece on CNN and laughed my ass off:

Spoiler:

Dear America,

I write to you from behind the lines in the last free state of Texas as we prepare to resist the invasion of Jade Helm 15.

While Gen. Travis laid in a supply of extra "beeves" in advance of the Mexican assault from Gen. Santa Anna at the Alamo, we are fearful of running low on Slim Jims and Moon Pies as the Walmarts are turned into detention centers for citizens robbed of their constitutional rights. As POWs (Prisoners of Walmart), we expect to be put to work in the sporting goods department against our will while earning below minimum wage.

We have had one encounter with a commander of the invading force during a hearing in Bastrop, Texas. Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria was deceptively polite and informative but Texans don't fall for those characteristics. We don't need facts. In Chuck Norris we trust, and he has informed us that this is an attempt by the Kenyan socialist in the White House to surrender our country to the United Nations. We have heard the talk that this is a training exercise in seven southwestern states to prepare U.S. troops for new types of war fighting, but Chuck Norris said, "It's not crazy to think Obama would invade Texas."

So that's what we believe.

Of course, a lot of us still think of the Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression," and we are not going succumb to repeated history. In fact, a few weeks before the Jade Helm's leadership incursion, our state legislature listened to passionate arguments to save "Confederate Heroes Day" on the Texas holiday calendar. A law to abolish the commemoration and honor all participants in the conflict was stopped with persuasion suggesting those who fought with the North were traitors, and anyone who wants to pay them tribute should "go to New York."

Our brave governor, Greg Abbott, has ordered the Texas State Guard to establish listening posts to monitor Jade Helm exercises in case America's soldiers come to take our guns, Duck Dynasty paraphernalia, Lone Star beer, pickup trucks, and bass boats. His command has left only a few of us confused. The governor says he honors the military at the same time he sends a message that he distrusts their activities. We are concerned that our previous governor, Rick Perry, has transcended Abbott's intellect. Perry cannot remember three things at once but thinks paranoia over Jade Helm is not warranted.

Related: Pentagon: No Texas takeover plot

We expect the Jade Helm troops to seduce our population with the profits from selling gas, food, and lodging, but we will be vigilant. We have our radios tuned to Texas conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and we have read the text of the U.N.'s Agenda 21 and know that the global elite can requisition even our golf courses without paying appropriate greens fees. We are aware of the cost of freedom in Texas, though, and on a nice 18-hole golf course it can be a hundred dollars a round plus cart fees.

Dissenters are arising in our midst, too, and pose some danger. A suspiciously sane former state lawmaker, Todd Smith, a Republican, wrote the governor to tell him that his "pandering to idiots" had made him "livid." Although Smith served 16 years in the Texas House, he seems to have salvaged a troubling intelligence. He told Gov. Abbott, "I am horrified that I have to choose between the possibility that my governor actually believes this stuff and the possibility that my governor doesn't have the backbone to stand up to those who do. I'm not sure which is worse."

But be not afraid, America. We are Texans. We will resist logic and intelligence to the very end. And we will keep up our traditions. From the Alamo to the Battle of Goliad, the Confederacy, LBJ's Vietnam, George W. Bush's Iraq War, and even Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys, we have a long legacy of losing. And the odds are also against us in the coming Battle of Jade Helm, but we expect to prevail against the invaders, and we will not give up our rights.

Or our air conditioning, cold beer, and Slim Jims.

Signed,

A Patriotic Texan

I'd be amazed if a proper Texan knew what half those words meant. Also, none of them are code for "its okay to bang your aunt", so let's clear that conundrum (sorry, small words: issue) up, shall we?

Relapse wrote:
It amazes me somewhat that there seems to be a generalized painting of Texans as ignorant morons from several posters here that bristle when talking about the unfair generalizing of minorities in a similar fashion.
While I agree that this whole Texas is being invaded concept seems very left field, I would say most Texans are going , "what the hell?" when this was announced.

 d-usa wrote:

Relapse wrote:
I agree. That's why I'm wondering how people bought into the invasion concept.

The people that are buying into the invasion concept already believed that Obama was going to use the military to destroy the individual states, declare martial law, and take their guns away. If you already believe all that to begin with it's pretty easy to latch onto an Infowars article that confirms what you already "know".

 Easy E wrote:
Why do they have a State Guard?
Who pays for it?
What do they actually do?
Why would someone join it?

I.... just.... don't.... get..... <brain explodes>.

 Frazzled wrote:
No but you do have to have a pickup truck,. and your mullet has to be between collar length and shoulder length.

 Jihadin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
No but you do have to have a pickup truck,. and your mullet has to be between collar length and shoulder length.

Gun rack optional in pick up?
I've a 90 Ford F150 I just brought this weekend. Will that give me a higher standing on promotions?

 kronk wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
No but you do have to have a pickup truck,. and your mullet has to be between collar length and shoulder length.

Gun rack optional in pick up?
I've a 90 Ford F150 I just brought this weekend. Will that give me a higher standing on promotions?

That depends.

Gun rack is not optional.
Mud Flaps?
Bull Balls Trailer Hitch Accessory?

 Jihadin wrote:

 kronk wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
No but you do have to have a pickup truck,. and your mullet has to be between collar length and shoulder length.

Gun rack optional in pick up?
I've a 90 Ford F150 I just brought this weekend. Will that give me a higher standing on promotions?

That depends.

Gun rack is not optional.
Mud Flaps?
Bull Balls Trailer Hitch Accessory?

Dented body?
Scratches in bed?
AM/FM cassette player?

 Jihadin wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Why do they have a State Guard?
Who pays for it?
What do they actually do?
Why would someone join it?

I.... just.... don't.... get..... <brain explodes>.

I point you in the right direction
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl

The year is 2023, and President Ted Cruz is ending the second of his contentious terms in the Oval Office. While his policies have been controversial — for example, undoing major social legislation (Obamacare) without a single Democratic vote — his administration’s continual expressions of hostility toward dissent have finally proved intolerable to millions of Americans.

Liberal grievances date back to 2017, the first year of Cruz’s administration, when his Department of Homeland Security issued a report declaring that fears about economic stagnation and inequality combined with liberal hatred of a conservative Latino could foster left-wing extremism. Specifically, failure to achieve comprehensive immigration reform could lead to violence. According to DHS, left-wing “extremist groups’ frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence.”

And since it was known even during the Obama administration that returning vets were having trouble integrating into their communities but were instead “ready to do battle,” the Cruz administration feared that left-wing extremists would find willing recruits in the ranks of former soldiers: Left-wing extremists “will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”

Facing a firestorm of criticism from liberal activists who reminded the administration that “dissent is the highest form of patriotism,” DHS Secretary Allen West stood firm: In his statement Wednesday, West defended the report, which says “left-wing extremism” may include groups demanding immigration reform and amnesty, as merely one among several threat assessments. But he agreed to meet with the head of La Raza, who had expressed anger over the report, when he returns to Washington next week from a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Concerns only deepened as periodic reports surfaced of Army briefings that list La Raza, MoveOn.org, and the Southern Poverty Law Center as “extremist” organizations similar to Hamas, the KKK, and al-Qaeda. DHS-funded reports even went so far as to redefine mainstream leftist concerns about income inequality and climate change as “extremist,” essentially labeling tens of millions of Americans as suspect.

Conservative critics labeled liberals as “paranoid” to be concerned over the DHS reports and Army briefings, but liberals countered that Vice President Rubio himself had accused Democratic lawmakers of acting “like terrorists” during the Democrat-triggered government shutdown in 2021.

In addition, Democrats noted that President Cruz had turned the federal bureaucracy into an engine of intolerance, with the IRS launching systematic audits of the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and other liberal nonprofits, costing them millions of dollars in legal fees and bringing their fundraising to a near halt. At the same time, reports surfaced that the Cruz Department of Justice was attempting to “piece together” prosecutions of liberal nonprofits while — locally — conservative district attorneys were launching terrifying pre-dawn raids on the homes of liberal activists in swing states.

Even the military hasn’t been immune to President Cruz’s crackdown on dissent. His purge of generals — long noted in left-wing blogs — spilled over into the mainstream with a second-term feature story in Politico called “Cruz vs. the Generals.” Americans of all ideological backgrounds continue to express confidence in the rank-and-file soldiers, but increasing numbers of Americans believe that the top leadership has been drafted into the president’s ideological crusades.

Fear and mistrust finally boiled over in San Francisco, Manhattan, Boston, and other stalwart liberal enclaves when the Pentagon announced “Operation Crimson Hammer,” a “Realistic Military Training” exercise in which thousands of special-forces soldiers will hold exercises in New York City, San Francisco, Oakland, other urban areas. Strangely enough, the Pentagon’s own briefing slides listed deep-blue locations such as Manhattan, the Bay Area, and Cambridge, Mass., as “hostile,” while conservative exurban communities were all listed as “friendly.” Democratic lawmakers returned home to find their town halls full of leftist activists demanding answers from the Pentagon. What is “realistic” about a military operation in Central Park?

So, how would the Left respond to the mirror image of the Obama administration’s treatment of conservatives? To know the answer, one only has to look back to the Bush administration and to the extent of leftist paranoia — though, compared with Obama, Bush did not take even a fraction of the negative actions against activists and political speech. Let’s not forget that more than half of Democrat voters [whembly: This is what I was trying to elaborate Seb.] thought it was “very” or “somewhat” likely that the Bush administration either “assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East.” Let that sink in: For all the elite’s disdain of allegedly gullible conservatives, a majority of the Left believed that an American president was complicit in mass murder.

But extreme paranoia wasn’t limited to the Democratic rank and file. As National Review’s own Rich Lowry pointed out, Naomi Wolf (former campaign consultant to Bill Clinton and Al Gore) actually wrote a book explaining how the Bush administration was mirroring the early actions of dictatorships like those in Germany, Russia, and China. Harper’s Magazine published breathless stories about a barely averted Bush administration “coup” or “military dictatorship.” Even as recently as 2013, the National Journal published an article claiming that military officers were considering “staging a coup” against President Obama — the basis for the claim was a series of statements by a retired general who specifically declared that no coup was being contemplated.

No, the Obama administration isn’t going to invade Texas or Utah. Yes, there are some bottom-dwelling, opportunistic conspiracy-mongers who’ve done their best to whip up public concern. But when the Obama administration has done so much for so long to express its disdain for conservative citizens, when it has turned one of its most powerful bureaucracies — the IRS — into a weapon against domestic political opponents, and when it has stonewalled through every meaningful investigation of admitted misconduct, it has richly earned citizens’ distrust.

In this atmosphere of earned distrust, it is appropriate for elected officials to ask questions about even benign and well-meaning military exercises. I don’t believe there is anything nefarious about “Operation Jade Helm,” but I also don’t believe there is anything burdensome about justifying the operation to a conservative public that has been targeted and maligned by the Obama administration in multiple other contexts. After all, suspicion about domestic use of the military is baked into our constitutional cake.

I hope the soldiers involved in Operation Jade Helm have a safe and successful exercise. I also hope, however, that the Obama administration and the media have learned their own lesson: that the price of continually expressed ideological hostility is the erosion of public trust. And for that, they have only themselves to blame.

 whembly wrote:
@seb, et. el...

.
<--- laughing too hard...
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418221/obamas-crackdown-dissent-has-made-conservatives-little-paranoid-and-rightly-so-david

The year is 2023, and President Ted Cruz is ending the second of his contentious terms in the Oval Office. While his policies have been controversial — for example, undoing major social legislation (Obamacare) without a single Democratic vote — his administration’s continual expressions of hostility toward dissent have finally proved intolerable to millions of Americans.

Liberal grievances date back to 2017, the first year of Cruz’s administration, when his Department of Homeland Security issued a report declaring that fears about economic stagnation and inequality combined with liberal hatred of a conservative Latino could foster left-wing extremism. Specifically, failure to achieve comprehensive immigration reform could lead to violence. According to DHS, left-wing “extremist groups’ frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence.”

And since it was known even during the Obama administration that returning vets were having trouble integrating into their communities but were instead “ready to do battle,” the Cruz administration feared that left-wing extremists would find willing recruits in the ranks of former soldiers: Left-wing extremists “will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”

Facing a firestorm of criticism from liberal activists who reminded the administration that “dissent is the highest form of patriotism,” DHS Secretary Allen West stood firm: In his statement Wednesday, West defended the report, which says “left-wing extremism” may include groups demanding immigration reform and amnesty, as merely one among several threat assessments. But he agreed to meet with the head of La Raza, who had expressed anger over the report, when he returns to Washington next week from a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Concerns only deepened as periodic reports surfaced of Army briefings that list La Raza, MoveOn.org, and the Southern Poverty Law Center as “extremist” organizations similar to Hamas, the KKK, and al-Qaeda. DHS-funded reports even went so far as to redefine mainstream leftist concerns about income inequality and climate change as “extremist,” essentially labeling tens of millions of Americans as suspect.

Conservative critics labeled liberals as “paranoid” to be concerned over the DHS reports and Army briefings, but liberals countered that Vice President Rubio himself had accused Democratic lawmakers of acting “like terrorists” during the Democrat-triggered government shutdown in 2021.

In addition, Democrats noted that President Cruz had turned the federal bureaucracy into an engine of intolerance, with the IRS launching systematic audits of the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and other liberal nonprofits, costing them millions of dollars in legal fees and bringing their fundraising to a near halt. At the same time, reports surfaced that the Cruz Department of Justice was attempting to “piece together” prosecutions of liberal nonprofits while — locally — conservative district attorneys were launching terrifying pre-dawn raids on the homes of liberal activists in swing states.

Even the military hasn’t been immune to President Cruz’s crackdown on dissent. His purge of generals — long noted in left-wing blogs — spilled over into the mainstream with a second-term feature story in Politico called “Cruz vs. the Generals.” Americans of all ideological backgrounds continue to express confidence in the rank-and-file soldiers, but increasing numbers of Americans believe that the top leadership has been drafted into the president’s ideological crusades.

Fear and mistrust finally boiled over in San Francisco, Manhattan, Boston, and other stalwart liberal enclaves when the Pentagon announced “Operation Crimson Hammer,” a “Realistic Military Training” exercise in which thousands of special-forces soldiers will hold exercises in New York City, San Francisco, Oakland, other urban areas. Strangely enough, the Pentagon’s own briefing slides listed deep-blue locations such as Manhattan, the Bay Area, and Cambridge, Mass., as “hostile,” while conservative exurban communities were all listed as “friendly.” Democratic lawmakers returned home to find their town halls full of leftist activists demanding answers from the Pentagon. What is “realistic” about a military operation in Central Park?

So, how would the Left respond to the mirror image of the Obama administration’s treatment of conservatives? To know the answer, one only has to look back to the Bush administration and to the extent of leftist paranoia — though, compared with Obama, Bush did not take even a fraction of the negative actions against activists and political speech. Let’s not forget that more than half of Democrat voters [whembly: This is what I was trying to elaborate Seb.] thought it was “very” or “somewhat” likely that the Bush administration either “assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East.” Let that sink in: For all the elite’s disdain of allegedly gullible conservatives, a majority of the Left believed that an American president was complicit in mass murder.

But extreme paranoia wasn’t limited to the Democratic rank and file. As National Review’s own Rich Lowry pointed out, Naomi Wolf (former campaign consultant to Bill Clinton and Al Gore) actually wrote a book explaining how the Bush administration was mirroring the early actions of dictatorships like those in Germany, Russia, and China. Harper’s Magazine published breathless stories about a barely averted Bush administration “coup” or “military dictatorship.” Even as recently as 2013, the National Journal published an article claiming that military officers were considering “staging a coup” against President Obama — the basis for the claim was a series of statements by a retired general who specifically declared that no coup was being contemplated.

No, the Obama administration isn’t going to invade Texas or Utah. Yes, there are some bottom-dwelling, opportunistic conspiracy-mongers who’ve done their best to whip up public concern. But when the Obama administration has done so much for so long to express its disdain for conservative citizens, when it has turned one of its most powerful bureaucracies — the IRS — into a weapon against domestic political opponents, and when it has stonewalled through every meaningful investigation of admitted misconduct, it has richly earned citizens’ distrust.

In this atmosphere of earned distrust, it is appropriate for elected officials to ask questions about even benign and well-meaning military exercises. I don’t believe there is anything nefarious about “Operation Jade Helm,” but I also don’t believe there is anything burdensome about justifying the operation to a conservative public that has been targeted and maligned by the Obama administration in multiple other contexts. After all, suspicion about domestic use of the military is baked into our constitutional cake.

I hope the soldiers involved in Operation Jade Helm have a safe and successful exercise. I also hope, however, that the Obama administration and the media have learned their own lesson: that the price of continually expressed ideological hostility is the erosion of public trust. And for that, they have only themselves to blame.

Indeed...

 kronk wrote:
Lookout! They're coming!

Spoiler: