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Posted on 05/01/2015 12:10:15 PM PDT by GIdget2004
A 16-year Republican veteran of the Legislature wrote Gov. Greg Abbott saying he is appalled that the governor has given credence to a fringe group that fears the U.S. military would stage a take-over of Texas.
Abbott has ordered the Texas state Guard to monitor a large-scale, eight-week military exercise this summer of special operation forces. Social media has pushed the conspiracy notion that the exercise, called Jade Helm 15, is a ruse to confiscate guns and declare martial law in hostile states.
After citizens raised concerns, Abbott said the state Guard will keep tabs on the operation to ensure Texans that “their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed.”
In his letter to the governor, Todd Smith of Euless, who retired from public office in 2013, said he is “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.”
He said he wrote because the thought that the U.S. military would be a threat to Texas is “embarrassing” and it is important “to rational governance that thinking Republicans call you out on it.”
“Is there ANYBODY who is going to stand up to this radical nonsense that is a cancer on our State and our Party?” Smith asked.
(Excerpt) Read more at trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com ...
Not the other Todd Smith, but the Todd Smith of Euless. Not exactly John Randolph of Roanoke.
Todd Smith sounds ignorant.
This may be a novel thought - but what if our government told all of what the training exercises were intended to do, when and where they were taking place, maybe even what units are taking part, etc.. Might allay fears, make us feel as though we were participants in our own government.
You, know like our Founding Fathers intended.
If it is so stupid, then why is this rube so bent out of shape? No harm will come from assuaging fears.
Who is Todd?
Never met a Todd that I trusted.
Sit down and Shut Up Todd!
Liberals will tell you their fears by feigning outrage over any issue due to their supposed moral superiority. Funny how many pissed off “conservatives” there are (according to an Austin newspaper) over this according to this article.
I looked him up. He is an ambulance chaser in Ft Worth.
Highly qualified to have his opinion quoted by the Media.
Todd is an ambulance chaser lawyer who lost his primary and is back to chasing ambulances.
I remember some cop or SF guy got shot near Ft. Bragg, NC while doing training some years ago. The police did not know it was an exercise. I can’t remember the exact details, but why would anyone get pissed off at LE cooperating with military ops?
WTH, Todd got thrown out in the primary?
Proof he is an idiot.
Worse than that Todd Smith was a Joe Strauss fluffer and GOPe lickspittle. Basically leftist trash who likes chamber of commerce money.
The reason Abbott is doing this, back in the 1990s Clinton also conducted military exercises in towns and no one bothered to tell the local law enforcement they were going to do it.
Townspeople, including law enforcement, didn’t have the slightest clue what a bunch of helicopters with armed people repelling down onto rooftops in the town in the middle of the night were doing.
One town was Kingsville, Texas.
In Texas it’s not a real bright idea to have people dropping out of helicopters onto someone’s private property without getting permission to do it first.
Someone could get shot.
Note the key word.. FORMER
Someone could get shot.
Someone did. In Waco.
Let’s see, suspicious military training in the streets of America under the control of the fraud thug in the WH as he moves to nationalize the country’s law enforcement. You go Gov. Abbot, protect you’re citizens. Trusting anything this federal government does will be at our own expense and possible demise.
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