The governor is pandering

Conspiracy theorists have sounded the alarm that an eight-week military training exercise set to begin in July in seven states (including Texas) is a step toward martial law in which the federal government will take over the states and start confiscating guns.

Most rational people would find the charge nonsensical and determine that the best course of action would be to ignore such ridiculous claims.

But in his reaction to a county commissioners court meeting in Bastrop, where the command spokesman for the operation — called Jade Helm 15 — was bombarded with questions and suspicion, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor the exercises.

His reasoning was that “it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed.”

It is irresponsible for Abbott to even remotely suggest, or be perceived to buy into the notion, that Jade Helm 15 is designed to infringe on Texans’ rights. That’s pandering at its worst, a sign of poor leadership.

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, deserves praise for issuing a rational statement explaining the operation.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 5:36 PM with the headline "The governor is pandering."