Recently there has been a new conspiracy theory floating around among right-wingers. They think that the federal government is going to use a military training exercise called Jade Helm 15 to invade and take over the state of Texas. The very idea of that is ludicrous (since Texas is already part of the United States, and under federal constitutional authority), but the right-wing has never let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory (especially since an African-American was elected president).
The crazy idea grew such legs that the governor and a U.S. senator from Texas decided to play politics and treat it seriously. Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas National Guard to keep an eye on those military exercises and report back to him. Senator Ted Cruz actually wrote to the Pentagon demanding an explanation (and made his demand public).
Now you may be thinking to yourself that most Republicans couldn't possibly believe such a ridiculous scenario -- but if so, then you would be wrong. It turns out that 32% of Republicans (or about 1/3 of the GOP base) believe the invasion is actually going to happen, and another 28% are not sure (they think it might happen). That's 60% of Republicans who think the federal government is planning to invade Texas, or might be planning that invasion.
If you had any doubt that most Republicans hate President Obama enough that they are willing to believe any crackpot theory about him, this should settle that doubt. A majority of Republicans are such racist haters that they have lost touch with reality. And the really scary part is that these nuts think they should be the ones to choose our next president.
The chart above was made from results contained in a new Public Policy Polling survey -- taken between May 7th and 10th of a random sample of 685 Republican primary voters, and has a margin of error of 3.7 points.
